


Renegade Weyr

by Asukasammy



Category: Dragonriders of Pern - Anne McCaffrey
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-03-07 05:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 49,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3162242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asukasammy/pseuds/Asukasammy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nine years after AVIAS a Brownrider meets a runner at gather. Soon after, a series of events occur that lead to a hidden Weyr in the West.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Southern Boll Hold was dressed in its best finery for the first gather of the summer season. Brightly colored flags emblazoned with the hold crest hung from the windows, flapping in the light breeze, while ships bobbed in the harbor the hold overlooked. Gather stalls decorated a field nearby, with round tables framing a wooden square floor that would be used for dancing later that evening. And far above it all, dragons watched the activity from the fireheights. Their multicolored eyes whirled with delight, adding to the gaiety as their riders mingled with the holders below.

N'kar paused as he stepped away from the traders' booth, listening to the harper music drifting through the air. He had come to the gather so he could visit with his family, but, as soon as his mother and sisters had seen him, they had insisted that he accompany them while they shopped. Now the brownrider's arms were piled high with bundles and packages. While he was glad to spend time with his family, a part of him was annoyed with himself for not escaping with his brother in law to the races. Even though he could barely stand the man, it would have been better than this!

Either the women had finished their shopping, or they were taking pity on him, for they led him to one of the tables surrounding the dancing square. He dropped the boxes in the middle of the table, and sat down heavily on one of the benches surrounding it.

 _Out of shape?_ Elanth questioned drowsily from his spot on the cliffs above the hold.

 _You try carrying this stuff all over the gather and back._ N’kar replied as he absently pushed back the locks of hair that fell into his eyes. 

"Your hair's getting shaggy again; you really should let me cut it before you leave." His mother reached over and finger combed his hair for a minute.

“Yes Mother.”

"You haven't talked about Nelladwyn at all today - how is my grandson doing?"

N'kar winced at the mention of his son, "Nelladwyn is good. He's learning all his teaching ballads perfectly and says hello." It wasn't completely a lie; the boy's foster mother said he was doing well enough the last time they had spoken.

"Oh, how sweet!" His mother cooed, totally oblivious to her son's discomfort. "You should have brought him with you; it would do the boy some good to get outside of the weyr for a bit."

"I wish I could've... but he had chores to do." Another lie; he had no idea what the boy did when he wasn’t attending lessons with the weyr harper. However, Nelladwyn was old enough that Benden’s Headwoman, Manora, had probably started assigning him chores.

"Ah, here comes Bayhon with some food." She stood and rushed off with her eldest daughter to greet her son-in-law.

"Nelladwyn's still not speaking to you, is he?" Sakina, his youngest sister, asked once they were out of earshot.

"No." N'kar sighed. "He speaks to me only when his foster mother or the weyr harper forces him too, otherwise..." The brownrider shrugged trailing off.

"He’ll come around.”.

“I doubt it.” He sighed.

"It wasn't your fault," Sakina started in an attempt to soothe her brother.

"Yes, it was." His thoughts trailed to Llydwen, his former weyrmate and the boy’s mother. He had been warned against taking a weyrmate multiple times. Dragonriders were hardly known for being monogamous - due to the nature mating flights it was practically impossible - and sometimes holder girls like Llydwen couldn’t accept that. However he had been young and had thought he could do it all; be a good rider for Elanth and have a normal relationship like his father and mother. Sure enough, the holder girl had been unable to adjust to weyr life and they had fought over the few flights Elanth had taken part in. Then, after one particular flight, she had left without a trace. Nelladwyn had been only three turns old at the time, and had been immediately fostered with a lower caverns woman. N’kar doubted he remembered anything about his mother, but apparently the boy had heard stories over the turns. Now he blamed his father for Llydwen’s disappearance and refused to acknowledge the brownrider’s existence.

"What's your fault, N'kar?" Bayhon asked suddenly, dropping a tray of tubers and wherrymeat above on the table in front of them. It clattered against the scarred wood of the gather table, and sent little bits of juice splattering across it’s surface.

“Nothing.” However N'kar was sure the holder knew. His mother had probably talked about it all the time when Llydwen had first gone missing.

"Have you found any land yet?" Sakina asked quickly, cutting the man off.

"No, not yet." The brownrider smiled at her, grateful that she had changed the topic.

"You could stay with us at the hold once thread ends." His elder sister, Selema, offered. "There's always room for family."

"I'd rather find my own place."

 _We will not be indebted to holders again._ Elanth said, echoing the now popular sentiment among weyrfolk.

 _I thought you were going to sleep?_ N’kar asked the brown.

 _I was, but then more dragons arrived and I had to move. There are two very pretty greens here now but they won't talk to me. There's a small bronze and a blue that keep watch on them constantly._ The dragon sounded annoyed, _They're very nervous_.

 _Maybe they're coming into heat?_ The brownrider suggested in an attempt to soothe the dragon.

_No, I would know. And no one else has seen them before. The large green isn't right, she's nearly as big as me, but she isn't a green._

_How can a green not be a green?_

_I don't know, I don't understand. She's_ green, _but she isn't_ a green.

 _I give up._ N'kar's brain hurt from trying to understand Elanth's logic. _Try to ignore them and go to sleep._

"Bayhon, do you have the wine?" Selema asked her husband.

"I... I... thought you had it." He stammered. It was amazing how the masculine holder was reduced to a quaking wherry by his wife’s glare.

"I'll get it." N'kar offered and stood up, checking his mark pouch to make sure he had enough.

His mother frowned at him, "I thought you wanted to visit with us?"

"I'm just going to get some wine. I'll be right back." He kissed her on the cheek, and started off through the maze of gather tables. Sakina tagged along as well, and he led her in the direction of the food vendors.

As it was close to the dinner hour, long lines stretched from the stalls. They found a spot at the back of the line for the vintner behind a runner with journeywoman notches in her belt. Based on the colors of her shoulder knot she was a messenger for one of the minor holds in Benden. She glanced back at them once, too quickly for him to get a good look at her face, and then proceeded to bounce from foot to foot, her long heavy braid swinging with the movement.

“So, have you met anyone new lately?” Sakina asked, drawing his attention away from the nervous runner.

“New?” The brownrider said, playing dumb. “As a dragonrider I’m always meeting new and interesting people. Just the other day there was this farmer with a two headed...”

“Not like that!” She cried out, exasperated.

“Ah.” He smiled to himself. “No. I have not.”

“It’s been seven turns, N’kar...”

“And?”

“Aren’t you the least bit interested in trying to find... someone else? Someone more understanding than her?” She blushed. “Unless you do prefer... y’know.”

“More and more women are impressing greens nowadays.”

“Oh?” She asked, her tone suddenly hopeful. Probably expecting her brother to confide in her that he did fancy one of them based on the expectant expression on her face.

“You’re becoming as nosy as mother.” He tweaked her nose. “But after all the fits Llydwen threw, the lower caverns women won’t look twice at me.”

“Well, maybe there’s a holder or a crafter girl here who will strike your fancy.”

“I’m not sure I want to go down that road again.”

“N’kar...”

“Not every dragonman has or needs a weyrmate.”

“But...”

“Let’s discuss something different, shall we? How is the hold doing?” He had always felt bad at leaving it behind, but when the dragons from Benden had searched him that day so many turns ago, he had had to try. Besides, as much as he might like his brother in law, the man was a far better holder than he could ever be.

Sakina nodded and told him story after story. He heard tales about the time the chains for Bayhon's cart broke, the time Selema had overcooked the hold bread, and an upcoming deal the hold might have with some holders from the Northern part of the continent.

The line in front of them soon became shorter and shorter, until finally they were one away from the front. The brownrider studied the skins of chilled wine sitting on shelves, in buckets of snow from the barrier range, and hanging from their straps on pegs. He should be loyal to his Weyr and get the Benden red, but he tended to prefer a good Southern wine more. Unfortunately the Vintner didn't seem to have either.

Beside him Sakina sighed. "I wish she’d hurry up, I'm hungry."

"What?" N'kar gave her a confused look and she nodded her head towards the woman in front of them. She deftly balanced a platter of food on one arm and shoulder, as she tried to haggle a cheaper price for an already inexpensive skin of wine.

"… The price stays 9 marks, that's the lowest I go."

"But surely vintnermarks are just as good as fishermarks, or harper, or printer for that matter either." The runner protested, shifting the platter to ease the stress on her wrist.

"Girl, need I repeat myself?" The master running the stall said becoming annoyed quickly. "I am a vintner; I have no need for vintnermarks. Now show some fishermarks or another type or move!"

"But…" The journeywoman started again.

"No marks, no wine. Now move so I can help another customer."

"How much is the wine?" N'kar asked stepping forward and gaining both the Vintner and the journeywoman's undivided attention.

"N-nine marks, brownrider." The master stammered noticing the dragonrider's shoulder knots almost immediately. The journeywoman, barely more than a girl N'kar noticed absently, quickly stepped away from him bowing her head so the loose strands of her hair swung forward to hide her face.

"Hmmm." N'kar pursed his lips in thought and pulled out a handful of marks from his mark pouch. He counted out several of the worn wooden rounds then let out a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid all I have are vintnermarks…"

"That's fine, brownrider, very fine." The master held out his hand to take them not wanting to upset a dragonrider.

N'kar raised his eyebrows. "But I thought you just said that you didn't take vintnermarks."

"Benden marks of any type are welcome here." The master stammered, "Even vintners."

"Then you should have no objection to her marks."

“Right...” He liked his lips, his gaze flickering between the marks in N’kar’s hand, and the runner

N'kar nodded at the journeywoman next to him before placing a couple of marks onto the table. "Two chilled skins of your best Istan."

The master scooped up the marks and turned, yelling at his apprentices rapidly. Two skins were soon produced from underneath the table along with some rough earthenware mugs to drink from. N'kar slipped the straps of the skins over his shoulder like they were firestone sacks while Sakina grabbed the mugs..

"Well …" The brownrider turned, expecting to find the journeywoman still waiting by the stall. However, she had already left with her wine. N'kar shook his head, strangely disappointed; at the very least the girl could have stayed to say thank you. Sakina started back towards the table and he followed her, not wanting to lose his sister in the ever-thickening crowds.

Looking over at the clearing in the middle of the Gather square N'kar saw that the dancing had started. The harpers were playing a lively little reel that had the dancers changing partners every few minutes and he paused to watch for a moment, tapping his foot to the beat.

The edge of a heavy platter slammed into his stomach, nearly knocking the wind out of him and making him stagger backwards. He smothered a curse and grabbed the platter in an attempt to steady himself and to keep it from spilling its contents all over him. The person carrying the platter gasped and N'kar found himself looking at the runner from the wine stand.

"By Faranth!" Her eyes were wide with shock, and N'kar had a feeling that she would have dropped the platter if he hadn't been holding on to it. "I am so sorry, brownrider. The music - it distracted me! Are you all right? Nothing spilled on you, did it? I am so sorry! So sorry!"

Now that he had another chance to look at her, he realized she wasn’t as young as he had originally thought she was. Maybe only a few turns younger than himself. And while she was not the dark beauty that Llydwen had been, she was quite attractive in her own way. Tan and lithe where Llydwen had been pale and curvy, with freckles on her nose, and sun bleached streaks in her hair.

"I'm fine." He smiled and attempted to laugh it off despite the dull throbbing pain in his belly from where she had hit him. He’d have quite a bruise later.

“I am so sorry. So very very very sorry” A little blue firelizard stuck his head in the gap where the runner's ear joined her head. It regarded him silently, apparently too lazy to make a fuss at the distraction while his owner continued to apologize profusely.

"N'kar! C'mon, everyone's waiting!" Sakina appeared next to them. She glanced at the runner and immediately narrowed her eyes. "Oh."

He turned to look at his sister, noticing out of the corner of his eye that the blue fire lizard mirrored his actions. "What?"

"Everyone's waiting for the wine."

"Yes. Right." He had forgotten about that during the commotion.

The runner stammered and apologized again, "I'm... I'm very sorry."

"Yes, well, you should be. Maybe next time you should watch where you're going" Sakina's tone was acidic. N'kar stared at his sister, wondering where this vicious tunnel snake had come from. After all her prodding earlier he would think she would be happy that he had bumped into and was talking to a woman.

He looked back at the runner, half expecting to find her still cowering – instead her expression had gone very cold and her eyes flashed with anger. She lifted her chin and opened her mouth to say something but then she caught his eye. Suddenly she was shaking so badly again that N'kar wondered if he had imagined it

"Sakina, please calm down." N'kar closed his eyes for a moment, wondering how a simple accident could be blown so out of proportion.

"Why should..."

"Sakina!" The brownrider barked again, "Please. I'm sure the runner here will be more careful in the future."  
The girl nodded, and Sakina rolled her eyes skyward, turning her back on them while she grumbled to herself.

"I'm really very sorry about that." N'kar murmured, and let go of the platter.

"Don't be," The runner gulped. "I ran into you." She repositioned her grip on the tray, and lifted it over head so she wouldn't hit someone else with it. The brownrider could see it wobble slightly as the runner's arms trembled from the stress of keeping it aloft. He doubted she would be able to make it very far before the whole thing spilled.

Making a sudden decision, he grabbed the edge of the platter and took it from her hands. "Why don't I just help you carry this?"

"You really don't have to do that," The runner protested. She stepped forward and reached up to take it back from him, her chest brushing against his. "I'm quite capable of carrying it myself."

His body instantly reacted to her closeness, and he was suddenly very very grateful for how heavy wherhide pants were. He stepped backwards, easily keeping the food away from her. "And let you go and run into someone else?"

She flinched at his words but stopped trying to take the tray back.

"Good," N'kar smiled apologetically at his sister, and handed her the skins of wine he was carrying. "Here, take this back to the table and tell mother that I'll try to find you after this.”

"Fine," Sakina finished for him, her tone sulky. "I'll tell her."

She started back towards the table, shooting yet another glare at the runner over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd. The brownrider sighed; at least that problem was solved for now. He glanced at the runner, "I'm sorry for her behavior."

The girl snorted and gave his sister's retreating back a look that could fell trees. N'kar chuckled; maybe she wasn't as timid as he had originally thought. "You really don't have to do this…"

"I don't mind." The brownrider cut her off then gestured for her to lead the way. The girl flushed and started walking away quickly. She wove through the crowd, daring around tables as if she wanted to lose him. N'kar had to lengthen his stride to keep up with her, and gave her a bright smile when she turned to check on him. She frowned to herself, but continued to lead him on, finally stopping at a table hidden far back in the shadows near the edge of the gather square.

The glow lanterns here were placed further apart and were dimmer, making it hard to see the details of what was around them. Even so, N'kar was able to make out the figure of a man sitting at the table. He stood as they drew closer, his eyebrows drawn together in a worried expression. "I thought you would only be gone for a few minutes. What happened?"

"I ran into some problems." The runner nodded at N’kar. "The brownrider here helped me out."

The holder glanced between her and the brownrider, his eyes troubled. "Where these bad problems?"

"One of the vintner's was being stubborn, and your friend was also having a hard time carrying the tray, so I volunteered to help." N'kar explained.

“Ah.”

"Yes, thank you for that again. I'm sure you want to get back to your family, they must be wondering where you are…" The runner said in a rush.

“Yes. I’m sure my sister has told them all sorts of stories by now about how a slip of a runner girl beat me over the head with her platter.”

She flushed, "I am still very sorry about that.”

“I was teasing.”

The holder looked at the runner and then N’kar, and back. “You hit a dragonrider with a...”

“After I helped her at the vintners, no less.”

“It was an accident!” She cried out, her cheeks turning a dark shade of red he hadn’t thought was possible.

“Teasing, again.” He smiled warmly at her, and she looked away, suddenly fascinated by the ground at their feet.

The holder cleared his throat, “Well, we thank you for your assistance.”

“You’re welcome.” N’kar nodded. When the runner finally glanced up at him again, he gave her a little bow. “Good night, and may the rest of your gather go much more smoothly.”

“Here, why don't you take a bubbly pie as an apology..." She tried to press one of the sweet treats into his hand.

“You’ve apologized enough, and you were forgiven long ago.”

“Then as a thank you for your help.”

"Actually, I wouldn't mind a dance or two later… if you're up for it, of course." N'kar forced himself to keep smiling despite his embarrassment. A dance or two? If she was up for it? By the egg, he felt like such a weyrling!

“We will be leaving as soon as we finish eating.” The holder spoke, growling the words from behind clenched teeth.

The runner stared at him. She opened her mouth to say something, but a look from the holder silenced her and she sighed.

“Ah.” N’kar suddenly understood why she had been so nervous. She probably didn’t want to disappoint this brute and earn his disapproval. “Well… if you change your mind, I’ll be back at the vinters in an hour.”

“She won’t.” The holder growled, scowling at them both. "It's a long way back to our hold, and we must leave as soon as the gather is over with."

He ignored the holder and held his hand out. “It was a pleasure meeting you Runner…"

She hesitated for a minute, glancing at the holder quickly - for approval he could only assume - before shaking the hand he had offered her. "Kai, my name is Kai…"

Kai. A pretty name for a pretty girl. Something about it seemed familiar though, but it was gone before he could place it. N'kar bowed to the runner once more. “Safe journeys.”

“To you as well.”

He smiled and turned back towards the gather.

Oh well. It wasn't as if he couldn't ask Sakina or his mother to dance a round or two.


	2. Chapter 2

Thankfully Sakina had not mentioned what had happened at the Vintner or with the Runner to his mother, so N'kar was not bombarded with thousands of questions when he returned to his family's table. He apologized for his absence and quickly helped himself to what was left of the food. It was standard gather faire; singed herdbeast meat and tubers, and it was a little bland compared to Weyr food, but he settled on the bench next to Sakina and ate it anyways. She refused to acknowledge his return, and when he started to ask her if she would like to dance, she turned her back on him and talked to Bayhon instead.

So much for that idea.

Instead the brownrider managed to coax his mother into joining him for a simple dance, and then, when she claimed she was tired, he pulled Selema on to the floor with him. As they were walking there was bit of a commotion off to one side of the dance floor, and when N'kar looked over he saw that Kai and the holder at the center of it. They were too far away for him to hear what was being said, but Kai’s timid expression had been replaced by a look of pure fury. She glared at the holder while he waved his arms around exaggeratedly. Selema shook her head when she noticed them, "I think someone's a little deep in their cups."

"She didn't buy that much wine though." N'kar frowned.

"Do you know her?"

"Only in passing. She was at the wine stand ahead of me, and I helped her out a bit."

"Ah. I wondered where you drifted off to for so long."

"You noticed?"

"Of course. I'm not completely oblivious y'know." Selema gave him a wink. "I just didn't say anything because I know how mother can be. She looks pretty, was she nice?"

"Nervous. Almost frightened at times, why?"

"That holder with her spoke with Bayhon earlier today about crops and such. He sounded like he might be interested in trading."

"That would be good, wouldn't it?" N'kar knew that while his family's hold did well, and had an excess of stores at times, it wasn't as prosperous as others because it was so out of the way.

"Yes. He just struck me as being off though. Oh sure, he seemed to know what he was talking about when it came to farming, but I doubt the man has ever plowed a field in his life. His hands have callouses in the wrong spots."

“What do you mean?”

She was about to continue however the harpers chose to start the next dance then. All attempts at conversation died while they tried to keep up with the steps a journeyman called out to the crowd on the floor. It finally ended, leaving N'kar a bit out of breath, which Selema teased him mercilessly about on the way back to their table.

Sakina had finally gotten over her sulking by the time they returned, and N'kar was relieved to see her in a much better mood. However Bayhon was ready to leave so he did not get the opportunity to dance with his little sister. He promised to visit soon and wished them a safe journey before deciding to take a trip around the gather stalls on his own. The night was still too young for him to justify returning to the Weyr, and while he had had the opportunity to browse the vendors earlier with his family earlier, he really hadn't been able to do any shopping for himself.

A turn around the gather square revealed that most of them were closed, but a few here and there were still open. He took his time looking through the leather that was available at one stand, but he couldn't justify spending so much on specially dyed hide even if the colors were so vibrant. He attempted to bargain with the apprentice watching over the stall anyways, but the boy was unwilling to budge on the price. The dragonrider put the leather back on the shelf and resumed his walk.

_You are being followed._

_By whom?_ N'kar was assuming the worst. Gathers attracted holders as well as holdless, and there were always bound to be a thief or two in the mix. Any brigand that might try to attack a dragonrider at a gather was a damn fool though.

 _The girl._ Elanth sounded oddly amused.

 _What girl?_ He saw Kai out of the corner of his eye, following him at a distance. _Oh. That's a bit daring for one who's so afraid of everything._

_She is also a green who is not a green._

Again with the green who was not a green business! He sighed to himself and turned around to face her, "Hello again."

The runner jumped back a bit, her eyes as large as plates. "How did you know…?"

"Elanth," N'kar pointed up at the fireheights and her smile faltered as she saw all the dragon eyes up there, whirling blue and green orbs watching the activity below. He shook his head and started walking again. "Is there something that I can help you with?"

She licked her lips, “You weren’t at the vinters.”

“Your friend made it clear you weren’t interested.”

“My friend doesn’t speak for me.” Her eyes flashed. "Anyways, I was wondering if you still might be interested in that dance?" She turned a bright red as she stumbled over the words.

“I wouldn't want to delay your trip."

"A dance or two won't delay me that much. I can catch up with the others before they make camp tomorrow. Probably before they even eat breakfast - knowing how slow the beasts can be... You’re teasing me again aren’t you?" She asked when she finally noticed that he was smiling at her.

"Maybe." They passed by the dancing square where the harpers were just finishing up a song. They immediately launched into another, which was a lively little jig of sorts. N'kar grabbed Kai's hand and dragged her out onto the floor amongst the other couples. She gasped as his touch and jerked away from him, nearly bumping into another dancer. N'kar frowned. "I thought you said you wanted to dance?"

"I do."

"Well then you'll have to get a bit closer than that." She let him take her hand, and he wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her closer. She stiffened at his touch but did not pull away this time, letting him lead her through the steps. N'kar accidently stepped on Kai's toes once or twice while she tried to keep up, but eventually got the hang of it and was moving as gracefully as any of the other women out on the floor. Soon her cheeks were flushed again, but this time it was from the dance and not from embarrassment. She even smiled at him, and laughed as she clapped for the harpers when the dance ended.

The harpers started up another tune with a fast beat. N'kar grinned as he recognized the music for the toss dance and turned to the runner beside him, "Care to try another one?"

Kai's eyes widened, "I don't know if I can..."

"What's one more song?" He grabbed her shoulders before she could pull away and pushed her ahead of him towards the middle of the floor. He used to love toss dances when he was younger and had been able to throw a girl fairly high. It had been awhile though so he didn't even know he had the arm strength to do that anymore, but Kai looked light despite having a sturdy build, and it couldn't hurt to give it a try. "Have you ever danced one of these before?"

"It's been ages..."

"Same here." The brownrider admitted. The runner had enough time to give him a panicked look and then the dance was starting. He swept her around and gave her a quick test toss in the air; she landed deftly on her feet and grabbed his hands, letting him pull her back towards him. "See? Not so hard is it?"

She shook her head at him, her brow furrowed in concentration as she braced her hands on his shoulders, preparing herself for him to lift her again. However, he stumbled, tripping over his own feet when he forgot one of the steps. N'kar managed to recover himself in time though and tossed her into the air. He caught her and eased her to the ground, then smothered his laughter as she messed up the next step.

Kai lifted her hands in mock defeat, "I did warn you that it had been awhile."

N'kar spun her, "How long?"

"Long enough that I can't remember anymore!"

Another couple almost ran into them and he stepped out of the way quickly to avoid being hit. Kai was not so lucky and tripped over her own feet, gasping as she landed on her rear. The brownrider grabbed her hands and helped her to her feet, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, and led him off the dance floor. "I'm fine. I think maybe we should sit out the next one though."

"That sounds like a good idea," N'kar smiled as he agreed with her. He followed her to a table off to one side of the dance floor where pitchers of water had been set out for the dancers. He grabbed one and greedily sucked down the contents, only stopping when he realized that the drudges attending the table and the runner were staring at him. He sat it back down and waited for the runner to finish drinking before leading her away to a bench set up a short distance away.

Kai sank down gratefully and leaned down to rub at her shin, watching the rider out of the corner of her eye while he collapsed on the bench next to her. "So was your family wondering what had happened to you earlier?"

"Not really."

"Your friend-”

“Sister.” He corrected.

“-Sister didn't look too keen about you helping me out."

"She can be a bit over protective sometimes… My whole family is really..."

"Why?" She interrupted, frowning in thought. N'kar studied her quietly as she continued. "You're a fully grown man and a dragonrider. Who in the world would want to pick a fight with you?"

"She’s not worried about that… It's a long story. Far too depressing for a gather." He wasn't about to discuss Llydwen with a complete stranger – especially one who seemed to become even more attractive now that all the wine from earlier had kicked in. "What about your friends? Weren't they upset with you for leaving them?"

"Only Miro was. He seemed to have forgotten that I was a runner and that I deliver messages to our hold and back all the time, all by my lonesome." She gave a short laugh that sounded almost bitter. "I guess he's a bit over protective himself."

"You can't really blame him… you're a pretty girl."

Kai blushed, and avoided his eyes. "So what is life in a Weyr like?"

N'kar smiled at her change of topic; so the timid thing from earlier hadn't completely disappeared yet. "Not as exciting as everyone thinks, actually. Mostly it's just sitting around and taking care of your dragon while you wait for thread to fall."

"Really?"

"Really. Elanth makes it all worth it though." He noticed a vintner apprentice making his rounds and motioned the boy over. A few marks later and a small skin of wine was sitting on the bench between him and the runner. "What is it like being a runner? I haven't actually met one before."

"No, I don't suppose you would have, what with having him and all." She looked up at the fire heights where the dragons were still watching. "It's not really all that exciting either… and it's really quite horrible if you get stuck on a trace during a storm, or during fall. There are shelters for us that are set up every so many dragonlengths of course, but they're not very big. It's better than being stuck inside a hold all the time though."

"Where is your hold at?"

She gestured vaguely to the North and the East. "Up in the hills."

"Is it near here?"

"A day or two's run... maybe three depending on the weather."

"Ah. So you're not a fellow Bendenite then." Kai glanced at him sharply and N'kar tapped her shoulder knots. She stiffened at his touch. "I recognize your colors: that pattern is from a hold near Benden, right?"

“Yes... Blue Vale hold.”

“I know a couple of riders who were originally from there-”

“I wouldn’t know them.” She quickly cut him off. “I left there long ago, when I was really young.”

“Then why still wear your old knots?”

"Oh… I haven't had a chance to get new ones yet. The holder keeps me busy running this or that around to the other holds in the area, or the cotholds, or the halls. When I get done all I want to do is sleep. Then as soon as I wake up I'm off again. Getting new knots gets lost in the shuffle."

"I can imagine. Is it a nice hold, at least?"

"I guess. I'm not there all that often really." Her gaze was distant and he touched her shoulder again to get her attention. She started, jumping off the bench.

The brownrider cursed to himself; things had been going so well, and now they were back to square one again. "Is everything alright, Kai?"

"Yes, everything's fine." She laughed nervously. "Or, actually, it isn't. I just realized what time it was! I really need to get going."

"Couldn't you stay for another dance?"

"I don't think that that would be a good idea. Especially after our last dance."

She had him there. "Well, we could talk more instead…"

"I can't."

"If you're worried about missing meeting up with your group," He stood and she backed up. "Elanth and I could take you to them. If they're traveling as slow as you said, they couldn't have gotten that far."

Kai paled at the suggestion of riding on a dragon. "I appreciate the offer, Brownrider, but I…. it's really not necessary." She sketched a shaky bow. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"Safe journey, Runner Kai." N'kar sighed.

She didn't hear him though - she had already disappeared into the crowd.


	3. Chapter 3

In the fading darkness of night, a dragon came out of Between over Benden Weyr bugling out a greeting to the rider on watch. The brown glided ever lower, and, being careful not to jostle his rider to abruptly, it back winged and settled to gentle stop on the soft sands of the werybowl.

N'kar slid from Elanth's back, grateful to be back at the Weyr. He slapped his brown's shoulder appreciatively and started off at a slow jog towards the lower caverns, smiling as he caught the scent of fresh bread and klah on the pre-dawn air. No doubt he'd find Manora or one of the other women in charge of the kitchens, ordering about the weyrfolk about and supervising the preparation of the massive amounts of food needed to feed the Weyr's dragonriders.

He stepped into the dining hall, walking around the empty tables quickly towards the well-lit cavern beyond them. The kitchens were in chaos as usual, all the fires in the hearths burning brightly as men and women worked around them: pushing or pulling this pot over the flames and chopping away at tubers and meat. The noise started the dull throbbing in his head to start again, and he quickly waved a boy over and sent him off for some porridge and klah.

 _I told you not to have that last glass of wine,_ Elanth spoke from their weyrledge, high on the rim of the weyrbowl. His voice was concerned, but also a little smug.

 _And I'll listen to you next time,_ N'kar replied. He thanked the weyrling when he returned with a tray piled with porridge and some fresh fruit from Southern, then headed to a table and bench as far away from the confusion of the kitchens as possible. Benden's other dragonriders began to drift in to the dining hall as he sat down, he nodded at several of them as they passed by, and a few of his wingmates quickly settled down at the table around him with their own platters of food.

 _That's what you said last time,_ the brown replied, _and the time before that…and the time before that._

_All right! I'll definitely listen to you next time…_

_You also said that last time…_

Two hands settled on the rider's shoulders dragging his attention away from his dragon's response. An overly cheerful voice came from somewhere behind him, loud enough to make him wince in pain, "Well, if it isn't R’nahl’s missing wingsecond! Tell us, was the dancing so good that you forgot you and a certain wingmate of yours were supposed to fly watch this morning?"

"I thought I told you that I switched watches with someone else." N'kar responded quietly, rolling his eyes skyward as a lanky auburn haired blue rider straddled the bench next to him.

"You did. You neglected to mention that it was with our dear Wingleader… Hey, are you going to eat that?" The rider asked, stabbing a piece of fruit from N'kar's plate with his knife. "It was pure misery the whole time… him and that goldrider of his had gotten into another argument about something…"

"Really? What about?" A girl with short cropped blond hair and greenrider shoulder knots slid onto the bench across from them.

"G'morning, dearheart, how'd you sleep?" The bluerider asked around a slice of fruit.

The girl gave him a slightly disgusted look, "Don't speak with your mouthful, D'rean."

"Feel the love. Anyways, apparently he tried to kill a crawler who'd taken up residence in one of his boots and she threatened to have her queen burn it… So I had to listen to him complain for six hours straight." D'rean quickly swallowed his fruit, then waved his knife loosely at N'kar. "You owe me…big time. I think a skin of good Ruathan or some of that new Southern brew ought to do it."

"How was the watch, anyways?" N'kar asked, taking a sip of klah before starting in on his porridge.

"I just told you: it was sharding atrocious. Absolute torture." A sly smile slid over his face, "Here's an idea, instead of forcing us to clean the latrines as punishment, have us take a watch with our beloved leader. Don't you think that's a good idea, Gineara?"

"Oh, come on you two!" N'kar winced as his head gave a particularly painful throb. "Not so loudly, please."

 _I told you . . ._ Elanth began again.

 _I know! I know!_ The brownrider sighed and rubbed at his temples, then looked up to find both of his wingmates watching him. "Gineara, you've been with D'rean how long now? You should know by now that he's only joking."

She raised a delicate eyebrow while D'rean turned his scowl on him.

N'kar blinked. "By the first egg, you're serious!"

"You would be too if you had to get up before dawn to listen to that pompous…"

A platter with fruit and another mug of klah settled on the table next to N'kar's, "Pompous. Now that's a new one. Working on improving your vocabulary, D'rean?"

D'rean choked on the sip he had just taken from N'kar's Klah. After coughing several times, he finally managed a reply. "Diligently, sir."

N'kar smothered a laugh. He nodded at his wingleader, "R'nahl."

"You're up early."

"Rhemyth says he just got in a few minutes ago." Gineara smiled at N'kar, her expression nearly as sly as D'rean's.

R'nahl gave him a questioning look. "Really, was the Gather that good?"

N'kar shrugged then dug into his breakfast porridge. "Not particularly. It was just another gather. You see one, you've seen them all."

"Why did you go then?"

"I hadn't seen the family in awhile."

R'nahl nodded while Gineara's smile grew. "But I thought you weren't going to stay long."

"Plans change."

"Really…" Gineara drew the word out, looking triumphant. "Did these plans involve dancing? With a girl, perhaps?"

D'rean snorted, "What else would he dance with? A wher?"

N'kar glanced at the riders surrounding him, not liking where this was going. "Why are you asking, Gineara?"

"Just curious."

"Uh-huh." He still didn't like her grin, "There was some dancing with a girl.”

“Probably one of his many sisters.” D’rean added.

“Actually, no, she wasn't a family member."

"You met someone?" A new voice asked. N'kar recognized it immediately: Malena, R'nahl's on again off again weyrmate. She settled across from them, next to Gineara, and flashed a sweet smile at N'kar. "What's she like?"

“Shards and shells, I wasn’t aware that me talking to someone else was such a big deal.”

“Well, normally it isn’t, but since this is someone of the female variety. and since it’s been over seven turns since she who must not be-” N’kar glared at D’rean and he quickly shut up.

"Rehmyth says that Elanth says that she is a green who isn’t a green.” Gineara frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Not that nonsense again!”

R’nahl frowned. “What nonsense?”

“At the gather two greens, a bronze, and a blue showed up and weren’t being very friendly.”

“It was probably getting time for the greens to rise then.”

“That’s what I thought, but Elanth insists they weren’t, and that one of the greens wasn’t a green.”

R’nahl frowned, but before he could ask any more questions, Malena turned the conversation back to Kai again. "So tell us more about this girl."

"What about her?" N'kar growled, digging into his porridge. "She ran into me, and I helped her back to her table. We ended up bumping into each other again little later and we danced a couple of times. That's all that happened."

"Was she pretty?" D’rean asked, earning a nasty look from Gineara.

N'kar ignored him, eating a spoonful of his porridge instead.

The blue rider laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, almost making him choke on his breakfast. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Did you get her name?" Malena asked.

"No." N'kar lied. He didn't feel like sharing anymore information right now.

"Why ever not? You didn't just tumble her…"

"N’kar wouldn’t do that.” Gineara lept to his defense.

"Well obviously he did once. Where else did that woman, Llydwen, came from?"

"Stow it, Malena." N'kar growled, gathering his plates back onto his platter and standing. "You shouldn't talk about things that happened long before you came here."

With that he stepped over the bench and dropped his plates off at the kitchen before hurrying out of the Lower Caverns. He heard R'nahl calling out his name and walked faster. Unfortunately, the bronzerider caught up with him despite his fast pace. "I'm sorry about that." He said, apologizing for his weyrmate. "She doesn’t know when to just let things go."

"I doubt she ever will," N'kar sighed. "Is Kaeleth getting close to her time? I haven't seen Malena like that since before her last flight."

"No. It's… It's just that time of the year again." Seeing his friend's confused look, R'nahl sighed, "It's getting close to the anniversary of the death of a girl she knew. Haven't you heard the story?"

"No, I was down at Southern at the time. Weren't they searched about seven or eight turns ago?"

"They weren't searched: they were rescued. Gineara and Malena were out with some friend on a threadfall day, they had to run for cover and D'rean found them before the leading edge did. They had a friend with them who got separated from them while they were trying to outrun the leading edge. We searched for her after the fall ended but she was never found."

"And today's the anniversary of that day? Who'd want to keep track of something like that?"

"Well you always manage to get roaring drunk on the day Llydwen left you every year." R'nahl replied dryly, ignoring the glare N’kar sent in his direction. "I'm not sure about the whole story because Malena rarely talks about it, but I wonder if sometimes she's still upset that the friend didn't make it."

"Ah." It had happened in the weyr before - riders feeling guilty when they survived another fall unscathed, while others didn't make it.

"But enough of that. So about this girl.” 

“Why does everybody care so much? Other riders do so much more than dance with girls and they don’t get quizzed by their friends.”

“Other riders are not you. You haven’t so much as looked at another woman since Llydwen left.” N’kar opened his mouth to correct him, but he shook his head. “I’m not counting mating flights.”

"Not everyone needs to have a weyrmate.” The brownrider repeated what he had told his sister earlier.

“No, not everyone does.” R’nahl admitted.

“And even if I wanted one, do I need to remind you of Llydwen’s behavior? No one will come near me after her last fit.”

“No one cares about that anymore. If you’d open your sharding eyes, you’d see that there are plenty of lower caverns women who wouldn’t mind visiting your weyr. You’re just too busy sulking to notice.”

“What women?”

“Nelladwyn’s foster mother for one.”

N’kar snorted. 

“The last time she stopped by to give you an update on the boy her neckline was so low you could almost see all of her assets. And trust me when I say they are bountiful.”

“Be careful that Malena doesn’t hear you say that.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“Fine.”

“Any man would love to give that woman a tumble in the back corridors, but you were completely oblivious. So pardon us for being surprised that someone finally managed to attract your attention.”

N’kar finally slowed his pace, coming to a stop in the middle of the weyrbowl. "She was a runner…"

"So horribly skinny then with thick legs? Why a runner? You're a dragonrider. You could've had any woman there."

"Her legs weren't that thick."

"So you did get a chance to…"

"No, all we did was dance and talk. Nothing else happened - she ran off before anything could."

"Did you get her name at least?"

"Kai."

"That sounds familiar." R'nahl frowned.

“I thought so myself. She wore Blue Vale shoulder knots-”

“Good, then it should be easy for you to find her again. Maybe Malena and Gineara know her.”

“Unfortunately she swore she hadn’t been there in years.”

"Ah."

"There was also a holder who was very protective of her."

"It's a gather! There's always holders at gathers... oh..." R'nahl's voice died off as he realized what N'kar was hinting at. "Well, maybe it was just a friend of hers? Or a brother?"

“I doubt it.”

R'nahl sighed, "You have the worst of luck when it comes to women my friend." 

"Tell me about it." N'kar snorted as he reached out for Elanth. The brown grumbled; he was already comfortable on his ledge and was not overjoyed at the prospect of leaving it - even if it was to give his rider a lift. "What is the old saying? There are other fish in the sea?"

“Yes - if you remember to look.”


	4. Chapter 4

When Kayta slept, she dreamed of running. Nothing could top being out on the traces. Out there she was truly free: it was only her, the sky, and the ground for dragonlengths. There was thread behind her though, and no matter how fast she ran it kept getting closer. She put on a sudden burst of speed - if she could just last a little longer there would be safety. There would be protection from the hungry rain that fell.

Suddenly the ground gave out beneath her and she tumbled down. She hit rocks, crying out as she felt her leg break. Curling into a ball she gasped in pain and let the darkness take her.

Her throbbing leg woke her and Kayta fumbled under the sheets, feeling for the sharp shards of bone and thick wet blood. Instead her fingers met only bare skin that was marred by a puckered scar a handspan below her knee. She took a deep breath; it was just a dream. Her leg was fine. The bones were just aching from the sudden change in climate. They always did whenever she came back from visiting the mainland.

By the egg, she missed her old life sometimes. Things had been so much simpler then. But life had a way of throwing rocks on the trace. Instead of being found by Benden riders that fateful day, N'bel had found her instead. He had brought her here, bandaged her up, and put her on the sands to impress. She had thought he was crazy at the time. Her? Impress? The search riders had never sensed anything special about her. However, as soon as the golden egg cracked open, the little beast hidden inside had made a beeline for the runner, almost tripping over her wings in her desperation to get to her.

_Lysith._ She had cried out, surprising Kayta. _My name is Lysith!_

Sweet, golden, beautiful Lysith. The one thing in her life that made everything else worth it.

The queen crooned in response to her rider's loving thoughts and moved so that her eye could look through the doorway into her riders living quarters.

_It is time to get up. Derana is bringing Klah,_ Lysith informed her rider. _She also has the updated storage records for you to go over. After you are done with that, may we go swimming again? I think there is still some paint on my tail._

_Of course, dear one!_ It seemed like no matter how hard Kayta scrubbed her after a visit to the mainland, she always forgot a spot. Truthfully, she was a bit surprised that she hadn't missed more: they had left the gather later than the others and Kayta had not had much moonlight to see by when bathing Lysith.

Last night had been a very close call. First there had been a brown dragon that would not stop staring at N'nyal's green or Lysith. Then Kayta had bumped into that Benden dragonrider who wouldn't leave her alone. After that M'rocav had demanded that they leave earlier than they had planned; in all their trips to the mainland they had never run into another dragonrider before, and he worried that they might be able to sense that they were also dragonmen. Part of Kayta knew that she should have listened to him, but the Benden brownrider hadn’t suspected anything and it had been so long since she had been to a proper gather. Plus, she had not appreciated M’rocav’s attitude, nor how he had tried to order her around. They had agreed that she would lead this expedition to the mainland since she had been raised there. And she outranked him!

So she had stormed off. It was an immature move for a Weyrwoman to pull, and she had instantly regretted it. She was setting a horrible example for the two other riders who had joined them on their adventure, and N’bel would be furious when he found out. Also, as much as she enjoyed wandering around the gather by herself, it was getting late, and night time at a gather was no place for a woman by herself.

She had almost given in. She had been about to head off to the meeting spot and apologize...

...And then the Brownrider had wandered past.

He was alone as well, as far as she could tell. During their short time together earlier he had not been able to sense the fact that she was a Queenrider. Perhaps he was still oblivious. She had followed him and was able to quickly establish that her assumptions were correct and he still had no idea who she really was.

Once she had gotten over her fear of him and loosened up, she had realized that he wasn’t nearly as bad as she had first thought. The persistence she had found annoying earlier when she had been desperate to get away from him was actually just an honest desire to help out. She enjoyed talking with him, though playing a runner intimidated by dragonriders had grown tiring after awhile. He was a decent dancer, and he hadn’t been half bad on the eyes either.

If things were different she might...

But they weren’t.

Despite everything that happened later in the evening, M'rocav claimed that he may have found a few more holders who were interested in leaving the mainland behind. Kayta doubted he had told them the whole truth about the Island though. Knowing the bronzerider he had probably painted it to be much better than it actually was much like N'bel had made the island out to be a utopia to her when she first arrived.

She sighed; unfortunately holders didn't have much say here on the islands. Originally they might have once upon a time, but at some point things had changed. Now the dragonriders expected the holders to do all the work, and they delighted in terrorizing them during their free time. Anyone who tried to speak up for the holders usually ended up dead regardless of if they were a holder, crafter, or weyrfolk. She, herself, had tried to stand up many a time but was usually ignored. The only reason she had lasted this long because Lysith was the only queen the Weyr had.

For now.

Someone cleared their throat, making Kayta jump. The queenrider looked up to find Derana, the headwoman, watching her. "Food's here. There's fresh fruit, and porridge if you wish."

"And klah?" Kayta slid out of bed and followed the old woman into the scroll room that had been built on next to Lysith's weyr.

"We're running low again, so only the dregs." Derana sniffed.

"Well, dregs are better than nothing." The mixture in the pot was bitter and watered down. Kayta grimaced. She scooped a generous amount of sweeting into it, but it barely covered the taste. "Wasn't there supposed to be another shipment? I think it was due two weeks ago."

"The captain sent a firelizard to Z'char to warn him that he thought the master had caught on and that the shipment would be delayed until the cost was clear. I thought he told you."

Kayta snorted. Derana knew damn well Z'char, the current weyrleader, never told her anything. She picked up a redfruit and bit into it, "What else are we running low on?"

"The records are over there. Read them yourself." With that the old woman left the room muttering as she walked away. Kayta took another bite of her redfruit and sighed. She pulled the record skins closer to her so she could read them while she ate.

She flipped through the first couple of pages, noting that they were low on tubers as well as wherhide. Aside from those two items and the klah, their other supplies were holding steady. Now that she thought about it, they had been holding steady for the past several weeks. She put down her fruit and stood, going to the shelf that held the record skins for previous months.

The Weyr had three Island holds to support them, plus there were several holds on the Northern Continent that sent supplies to the Weyr which each shipment. It had been explained to her by N'bel that this was usually because they had had sons or daughters who had either come to the islands and become holders or dragonriders, or that the supplies were sent in trade for fruits and jewels that were available on the islands. Ever since Z'char's Calaranth had flown Lysith and Z'char had taken over as Weyrleader, Kayta had noticed a steady decrease in the shipments.

The amounts for fresh fruits shifted depending on what was in season, but they never dipped into critical levels - which was to be expected. Since they lived on an island near the equator of Pern, there was some local fruit always in season. The amounts for grains and other supplies, however, had remained the same for the past nine months. They held steady at low, but never dipped into critical levels.

Strange.

Considering that they had not received a shipment from the mainland in over three months, there should be some decrease, unless the Island holds had experienced a bumper year and were tithing more than usual. However, when she consultanted those records, she saw that, if anything, the holds had tithed less than usual. Besides, even if they had surplus, the Island's holds were not large enough to support 200 odd dragons, their riders and assorted weyrfolk as well as their own.

What was going on?

"Well they're not raiding the mainland. I'm sure we would have been discovered by now if someone had been." N'bel had been drilling some of the lower cavern's children when Kayta found him a few candlemarks later. "Why do you ask?"

Kayta sighed. "We haven't received a shipment from the North in nearly 3 months."

The bronzerider glanced back at her sharply, "Why wasn't this mentioned at the council sooner?"

"I only just found out about it. Otherwise I would have told you and the other bronzeriders."

"You only just found out now? I thought I trained you..."

"I am doing exactly what you trained me to do." The Queenrider snapped. "I handle the stores and the lower caverns things like every Weyrwoman does; it's the Weyrleader's job to stay on top of the shipments and keep me informed."

"Which Z'char hasn't been doing."

“Exactly.” Kayta snorted. "I had to find out about the delay from Derana of all people."

"Have you spoken to him about it?"

"No, he was still asleep." She'd passed by the bronzerider's weyr on the way to find N'bel, and could hear him snoring from half a dragonlength away.

N'bel sighed and would have made a remark but noticed the children watching them. He quickly called off the rest of the drill and sent them to wash up, only continuing once the group was well out of earshot, "How that man is a Weyrleader amazes me."

"Well, unfortunately there's not much that we can do about it until Lysith flies again."

"And who knows when that will be again." While Queens on the mainland seemed to have fairly steady flights that were predictable things were a bit different on the Island. Here they didn't need as many dragons to fight thread because they had less ground to cover. As a result the queens didn't fly as often, maybe once every 5 turns if they were lucky, and the flights were kept short so the clutches would be smaller. Lysith seemed to be an exception to the rule, having flown two times since hatching.

"Lysith has flown twice since she hatched seven turns ago - She'll probably be due in another month or so." Kayta sighed. N'bel's original plan had been for M'rocav to succeed him as Weyrleader, and he had practically thrown the younger bronzerider at Kayta as soon as the girl had impressed. He had hoped that if they had a relationship before Lysith flew, then maybe Lysith would be more inclined to let M'rocav's Lementh to catch her. No one had expected Calaranth to be so sneaky though.

"All the more reason for you to stay close to home then." The weyrlingmaster studied Kayta intently as if he knew that she had been visiting the mainland. The Weyrwoman quirked an eyebrow and met him stare for stare. He found himself sighing again, "I saw you limping this morning; you all went to another gather again didn't you?"

"You used to a few yourself when you were the weyrleader."

"Aye, but I had to make deals and keep tabs on our suppliers."

"And you think I don't?"

"That should be the Weyrleader's job."

"Which, as we've already established, he is not doing. Besides, M'rocav and I went so we could spend time together." She lied. Even though she still cared for M'rocav, and he supported her - it wasn't like that. Not anymore. He hadn't shared her bed since Lementh had lost the last flight nearly two turns ago, and she knew that he had moved on to other women since then. Kayta only wished that she could find another mate, but it was hard when Z'char made it very clear to every rider that no matter how much he couldn't stand Kayta, he was not about to share her with another, and the men from the lower caverns were too intimidated by the dragonriders to even so much as look at her.

_I am here!_ Lysith cried out, distressed by her riders thoughts. _You do not need men when you have me!_

_I know love!_ Kayta smiled to herself. Even at 7 turns old the queen dragon was still a bit naive when it came to human needs.

"Are you alright girl?" N'bel was looking at her closely again.

"I'm fine." The queenrider lied again, not willing to admit how lonely she was and burden the ex weyrleader further.

"Uh-huh," N'bel thankfully didn't call her on it. "Promise me you won't go again."

"You know I can't make that promise. Someone has to keep in touch with the mainland."

"Let it be someone else though! Kayta, what if we were found out?" He grabbed her arm, pulling her around to face him. He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "Even worse, what if we lost you or Lysith? She's our only queen."

"How about a compromise? I promise I won't go unless on I'm on Weyr business."

"Kayta..."

"You can't because you're too busy with teaching the children since we don't have a harper. M'rocav isn't familiar with the mainland. Z'char won't even bother, and neither will the others. I promise, no more gathers, no more trips unless it's on the behalf of the Weyr."

"Fine."

"Good. It's not like you have much of a choice, though, I do outrank you."

N'bel laughed at that and started walking towards the lower caverns dragging Kayta along with him.


	5. Chapter 5

_There are people shouting by the storerooms,_ Lysith spoke, waking her rider.

Kayta jumped and sat up, looking around in confusion before she recognized where she was. She had fallen asleep in the Records room again… for the third night in a row. _The storerooms couldn't have flooded again - the tides haven't been high enough for that to happen._

_No, no flooding, but lots of shouting._ Lysith had moved so she could look in one of the windows with her eye. It was swirling red in agitation. _Calaranth says there are men trying to steal from us._

_Men? Stealing?_

_They have caught them. They are bringing them to the meeting room._ Lysith continued.

The shouting was getting louder. Kayta groaned and stood, walking over to doorway that opened onto the weyrbowl. Both moons were out and hung high in the sky above allowing her to see several of the bronze and brown riders walking a trio of men towards in her direction. The men were being very loud about how their treatment was unfair, how they had a right to food too, but quickly shut up as soon as Lysith turned her head to study them. Kayta allowed herself a small smile; even though Lysith was the smallest queen she knew of she still made a fairly impressive sight in the moonlight.

The meeting room was only a short distance from the records room. Unlike most of the other buildings in the Weyr, it had actually been carved into the cliff side, and wasn't made out of wood or stone. She followed the crowd of onlookers over and was able to slip in behind some riders before anyone noticed.

She found M'rocav and tugged on his sleeve to get his attention, "What's going on?"

The bronzerider jumped at her touch, "Holders were raiding the storerooms. We caught them and now Z'char will deal with them." He looked at her. "You should get out of here. The Weyrleader won't be happy when he notices you here."

Kayta snorted, she could see Z'char sitting in the Weyrleaders chair at the table that dominated the middle of the room. He glowered at the holders as he listed to his trusty wingseconds. "When is he ever happy to see me?"

She slipped past M'rocav before he could stop her and did a circuit around the outside of the room, studying the Weyrleader from behind the other riders crowded around the captives. She guessed that they had just dragged him out of bed by the state of his clothes and couldn't help but notice that he was skinnier than then the last time she had saw him nearly a month ago. Also, his hair, long and bleached blonde by the sun, hung in greasy strings around his face.

She decided to take a chance and took her seat at the table. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Z'char scowl at her, but he didn't say anything and quickly turned back to the matter at hand.

"They came in from the one of the other islands by boat - we found it down on the beach near the rocks that mark the end of the Weyrbowl. I don't know how they made it through the reefs in it." One of the wingseconds hissed.

"Sheer sharding luck. It was a cat boat. Barely even big enough to carry them… let alone the supplies they were trying to steal." A brownrider offered. "Stupid holders."

"What were they trying to take?" Kayta finally spoke up.

Z'char gave her a black look. "This is not your problem."

"It involves the storerooms, which are my problem." She raised an eyebrow at him, refusing to back down. He finally looked away and Kayta turned to the brownrider again. "What were they trying to take?"

"Mostly grains; rice, wheat..."

"Things that are rightfully ours!" One of the captives yelled, interrupting. "We tithe fairly, as we're supposed to, and yet you just keep taking more!"

"Oh you tithe alright," Z'char snorted. "You tithe by giving us the worst you have!"

"It's all we have! At least you dragonriders can fly elsewhere and get supplies, instead you continue to harass us and take more than your fair share! Are we to be left with nothing?"

"After this? Yes! We cannot afford to keep around a hold that cannot support itself!"

The captive's eyes blazed with anger, "Then why do we have a Weyr that never does anything?"

The room exploded into shouting and Kayta could hear dragons roaring outside. She tried to demand silence but couldn't be heard above the noise, and Z'char was too caught up in his own yelling match with the captives to care. She caught M'rocav's eye and sent him a pleading look.

"SILENCE!" He bellowed, then jerked his head towards her everyone turned to stare at him. "The Weyrwoman was trying to speak."

"Thank you, M'rocav," Kayta sighed in relief. She looked at the holder standing across from her, "Now as far as I know the Weyr has always been fair to your hold. I have records showing that we only take what is owed to us under the tithing agreement. Nothing more, nothing less."

"That's not true. We've had three different groups of riders turn up at hold this month to demand more, and if we..."

"Liars!" Z'char stood, almost knocking over his chair.

"Z'char, enough." Kayta pulled herself up to her full height in her chair and glared at the Weyrleader until he sat back down. She glanced back over at the holder and gave him a little nod, "Please continue."

"Well," The holder licked his lips. "We have been giving the Weyr their fair share, but riders keep coming back and asking for more. If we try to turn them away we're threatened or our girls are taken from us."

Kayta went cold. So that explained where the extra food was coming from! "The Weyr has been stealing extra supplies from the holds then."

The holder nodded. "We aren't the only ones. We're just the ones who decided to do something about it."

"I'm sure you're familiar with the saying that 'two wrongs hardly make a right'?"

"We weren't thinking, Weyrwoman." Another thinner and older holder spoke up. "Well we did, but we weren't thinking right. It's not like we could go to the other holds for help. East Hold barely has anything left either, and North Hold is too far away."

"Our people are starving." A third piped up.

"Our people are starving," Z'char mimicked the holder, making his voice sound whiny and pathetic. "That doesn't change things. You have been caught stealing from the Weyr and will be dealt with accordingly."

The bronzerider gave a flick of his hand and the men were dragged out of the room. The rest of the riders filtered out after them too, heading for the lower caverns and to spread the news about the Weyr. Soon it was only M'rocav and the two Weyrleaders.

Kayta looked at Z'char, "I'm assuming you'll just exile them then."

The bronzerider gave a short laugh, "No, if I exile them to another Island I would have to give them supplies, and they aren't worth it. I was thinking about just dropping them between. M'rocav why don't you go find out what hold they were from. Perhaps we should make an example."

"M'rocav, don't." Kayta held up a hand as if to stop him and narrowed her eyes at Z'char. "What do you mean an example?"

"Well, some grain was spilled during the scuffle and I'm sure we'll find more ruined foodstuffs once morning comes." Z'char's voice was calm and controlled now. "It's only fair that their hold replaces what they damaged."

The Queenrider was disgusted. "You heard what they said about there not being enough supplies..."

"It is our right as dragonriders to take what we want for protecting these fools." Z'char's voice was calm and controlled now.

"...If you take anymore they will starve to death!"

"I fail to see how that is a bad thing. If there is less of them, there will be more for us." He stood to leave the room and Kayta got up to follow him.

"And what will happen when there are no more holders left? Who will tend the fields then? You're insane if you think your riders will do it!"

Z'char whirled and grabbed her arms, shoving her up hard against the rock wall. "You go too far Weyrwoman."

"I go too far?" Kayta gasped in pain. "This Weyr is just as dependent on the holders for our food as the holders are dependent on us for their safety. If you continue with this madness..."

"You have no right to question me when you're no better than one of them." He squeezed her arms tighter until her fingertips started to go numb. "A worthless piece of holder trash! N'bel should have left you to die that day..."

"N'bel is twice the Weyrleader that you'll ever be." She spat. Z'char snarled and shook her violently, making her head collide with the wall behind her with a sickening thud.

Outside Lysith bellowed in outrage and suddenly a little blue blur appeared and went straight for the bronzerider's head.

Z'char released his grip on Kayta so he could take a swipe at the firelizard who dove and clawed at his face. While he was distracted, the queenrider sank to the ground and crawled a few feet away until she was clear of the scuffle. The room was spinning around her and the ground was shifting under her hands and knees. She closed her eyes, fighting the urge to be sick.

The Weyrleader pulled out his belt knife and lunged at the firelizard, but the blue dodged the attack by going between. He reappeared above where Kayta huddled against the wall, chittering angrily, his eyes flashing a vibrant orange. Before Z'char could attack again, M'rocav grabbed his arm from behind and swung him around so that the bronzerider stood between the Weyrleader and Kayta. "That's enough!"

"You forget your place Wingleader!"

"I've forgotten my place? You just attacked the Weyrwoman!" The two men glared at each other.

"Fine, defend the whore instead of your own brother." Z'char held up his hands in defeat and left the room.

M'rocav waited until he was sure the other rider was gone before kneeling next to Kayta. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face, "Are you okay?"

Kayta nodded, frowning when it only made the room spin more. She let the bronzerider pull her to her feet and leaned heavily against him for a moment. "I've been better." The blue firelizard settled on her shoulder, and crooned, rubbing his head along her chin. She patted him limply, "I never thought I'd be so happy to see you, you wretch."

"Dolp always did have perfect timing." M'rocav's laugh was mirthless as he guided Kayta back to her seat. "Here, let me send him after Derana..."

"Send him for Berjoui instead, please. She's gentler." Kayta could hear Lysith bellowing outside the meeting room and scratching at the rock in an attempt to get to her rider. Please stop that, you'll hurt yourself!

_How dare he touch you! He hurt you!_

_He's gone! I'm fine!_ She watched silently as the bronzerider sent the firelizard off on his errand.

_I'll tear him apart!_

_Lysith!_ Kayta was shocked by the queen's vehemence. _No! He's gone! He won't trouble me again!_

_But he hurt you!_

_I'm fine._ A sudden wave of nausea hit her and the queenrider bowed her head, resting it on the table, _I'll be fine. Berjoui is on her way._

_She is here._ Kayta lifted her head a little and watched as N'bel led a slight woman into the room. Berjoui dropped her bag on the table as she rushed to Kayta's side.

"That was quick," M'rocav nodded a greeting to the weyrlingmaster.

"Lysith bespoke Harnarth and asked us to come. What happened?"

"Holders were found stealing from the storerooms. I figured you would have known since the noise was loud enough that it woke up the whole Weyr."

"We were... indisposed."N'bel looked at Berjoui. The woman blushed and bent her head as she intently studied the lump forming on the back of Kayta's head. "Is that how she got hurt? Did one of them..."

"No, Z'char did." Kayta finally spoke as the healer tilted her head up to study her eyes, it was hard to focus on the other woman's face and she had to blink several times. Berjoui's expression was concerned and she made a tsking noise before turning back to her bag.

"I'd heard that he was getting violent," Berjoui offered tentatively as she pulled out a jar. "One of the boys was sent to take him food the other day and came back with a black eye for spilling his wine."

Kayta was shocked. "And no one said anything?"

"Why? What good would it do? He's the Weyrleader." Berjoui shrugged, and dabbed a cloth in the jar before using it to wipe down the back of Kayta's head. A pleasant numbness spread over the area and the Weyrwoman smiled at the healer thankfully. "Did he get you anywhere else?"

"Her arms."M'rocav ran a hand through his hair. "He grabbed her, and shook her pretty roughly before I could jump in."

N'bel frowned at Kayta, "Why did he attack you?"

"She stood up for the holders." The other bronzerider explained.

"Are you mad? They broke our rules and need to be punished." N'bel exploded.

The queenrider flinched; she had never seen him this angry before. "He was going to drop them between! How is that a fair punishment for men who were only hungry?"

"It's not," He agreed, "but better that it's them than us."

Kayta rolled up her sleeves and gasped as Berjoui prodded one of her swollen biceps tentatively. The healer nodded to herself, and slathered them with numbweed as well. "They'll be purple for awhile, but at least he didn't do any lasting damage. No heavy lifting, okay?"

"When do I do any heavy lifting?"

"I've seen some of those hides you've been studying," The woman snorted. "That's the other thing: you have a concussion. You'll need to take it easy for a few days and let yourself recover. No late nights in the records room, okay?"

N'bel gave Kayta such a quizzical look that she felt the need to explain, "I was trying to figure out where the extra supplies were coming from."

"And?"

"Z'char was taking more from the holders, on top of what they normally tithe..."

"...Which is why they came here and tried to steal some of our food." He finished for her as he put two and two together.

"Yes." Kayta buried her head in her hands, as the room started to spin again. "That stops tomorrow. We only take what we need from the holders. Nothing more, nothing less. I don't know what to do about those men though. We can't let Z'char take them between."

"If we go against Z'char there will be trouble. More than just what happened tonight." M'rocav kept glancing towards the corridor that the Weyrleader had disappeared down as if he expected him to show up again.

"If we let him do that though, the holders will give us trouble."

"But you're dragonriders." Berjoui interrupted. "What holder in his right mind would go up against a rider and his dragon?"

"Well, they're obviously at their breaking point if they tried to pull this." N'bel sighed. "Who knows what else they might do? If they managed to get through the reefs this time, they could do it again and attack us."

"Surely the dragons will protect us."

"Dragons have to sleep sometime, just like humans do."

Kayta grabbed the healer's hand and squeezed it. "We'll post watchriders around the Weyr. Z'char hasn't bothered with that since he's become Weyrleader. I can draw up a plan for it tomorrow."

"You'll do no such thing. You will follow Berjoui's orders and rest." M'rocav frowned.

She gave him a dark look. "And who, might I ask, will run the Weyr while both Weyrleader's are incapacitated?"

"I and the other Wingleaders will." The bronzerider glanced at N'bel. "That is how the chain of command runs, isn't it?"

The weyrlingmaster nodded, "Normally the oldest bronzerider would. So I will pass on Kayta's decision regarding the stores being returned to the holds, and the starting of the watch again. In the mean time why don't you help Berjoui see to Lysith, while I escort our dear Weyrwoman back to her rooms."

"I am not so injured that I can't take care of my own dragon."

"Kayta." N'bel barked. She had seen that frustrated look on his face many a time as a young Queenrider and bowed her head. Unfortunately the movement started the throbbing in her head again, and she closed her eyes in pain. "Look at yourself girl, I doubt you could stand up straight right now, much less slather a full grown queen dragon's head in numbweed and redwort."

_You are unwell. You must listen to them and rest. They will take good care of me_. Lysith crooned

Kayta sighed at that,"Fine."

"Good. Nice to see that fool of a Weyrleader didn't completely addle your brains."

Berjoui pulled several powders out of her bag and mixed them together in a jar and handed it to N'bel. "Add this to some water and make her drink it; it'll help with her headache."

"Allright," The older rider nodded, tucked it into his belt pouch and hurried her and M'rocav out of the room. He playfully patted the healer on her rump before turning around to face Kayta.

The weyrwoman narrowed her eyes at him and frowned. "I didn't need to see that."

"See what?"

"She's a turn younger than I am!"

"And has twice the sense that you do. At least she knows to keep her head down and her mouth shut, and doesn't go looking for trouble." He sighed and helped her out of her chair, wrapping an arm around her waist to steady her as they walked outside into the weyrbowl. The white beach stretched out before them in the moonlight, and Kayta could see Berjoui treating the scratches on Lysith's head a short distance away.

"If she's the better woman, then why didn't you have her try to impress the queen egg all those turns ago?" She kept her voice low so that the other woman wouldn't hear them.

"Harnarth didn't choose her on search, he choose you."

"What search? You found me in a ditch with a broken leg, remember?"

"Aye, I haven't forgotten that." The bronzerider sighed in frustration at their slow pace and finally scooped Kayta up into his arms, cradling her against his chest. "You still weigh about what you did back then. Haven't you been eating?"

"Don't change the subject." The movement of him walking made her nauseous. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to get sick.

"Berjoui is a nice girl, but she doesn't have the strength you do, and in order to fix what is wrong with this Weyr we needed a strong Weyrwoman… or have you forgotten us discussing that?" They finally reached her weyr, and he walked through the small sitting room at the front into the sleeping chamber beyond. He settled her on the edge of the bed, and helped her pull her sandals off before starting to unlace her vest.

Kayta swatted his hands away. "I'm not a complete invalid, y'know... and no, I haven't forgotten."

"Then why bring old arguments back up again?" N'bel sat on the bed next to her, and the queenrider leaned against him for a moment, resting her head on his shoulder. "You may the most stubborn woman I've ever met, and Faranth knows you've given me more than my fair share of headaches when I was Weyrleader, but I chose you to stand on the sands because I knew that you would be the best chance we had at making it out of the pass. I still believe that, girl, even if you refuse to listen to any advice M'rocav and I have to give you." He pulled out the jar Berjoui had given him earlier and held it in front of Kayta's face. "Now are you going to drink this stuff willingly, or will I have to force you?"

Kayta snorted and then winced. She waved a hand in the direction of the bathing room. "There should be a jar of drinking water on one of the shelves."

N'bel nodded and stood, leaving Kayta to undress as he mixed the powder. Kayta stripped down to her long shirt, and climbed underneath the sleeping furs. The room continued to spin though, so she draped one her legs over the edge of the bed, placing her foot firmly on the floor – an old trick she had learned from M'rocav when he had over indulged one night. Unfortunately it didn't work, but N'bel returned with the mixture, and helped her sit up while she drank it.

Almost immediately a pleasant numbing sensation spread through her body. "What are we going to do about the holders?"

"M'rocav and I will figure something out."

"But…" It was becoming harder and harder to keep her eyes open.

"Shush now, and rest like Berjoui told you to." N'bel patted Kayta's hand, and then shuttered the glows as he left the queenrider to her dreams.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From here on out there will be some portions of the story that will be different than the version available on FF dot net. When I was going through the story to clean up some typos and spelling errors before posting it here on AO3, there were some scenes just didn't feel right to me. So I've gone ahead and edited them and hopefully changed them for the better.

The sun was at its zenith when the wings of Benden appeared over the mountains of Eastern Bitra. N'kar was struck by how calm the scene was: The sky was a bright clear blue, completely cloudless, with a slight breeze. If one didn't know better, no one would suspect that in just a few minutes thread would rain down on them once more. No doubt there would be several deadglows who would be fooled by the serene weather and get caught outside of their holds and halls today.

As his thoughts wandered, he couldn't help but wonder where Kai was. During his free time he had inquired at several runner stations around Benden Weyr asking if anyone knew of her. All of the station masters had shook their heads saying they were not familiar with anyone by that name. He thought he had finally caught a break when he spoke with an old runner that Elanth had spotted when they were riding watch one morning. He said he remembered a girl with dark hair like Kai's, but claimed that the girl had died several turns ago. He had laughingly suggested that maybe the brownrider's runner was a ghost, before taking off down the trace again.

However Kai couldn't be a ghost. Ghost's weren't solid, you couldn't hold their waist in your hands, and she most certainly wasn't a figment of his imagination since his sisters had seen her too.

_Xanth says R'nahl says to pull your head out of the clouds, Elanth interrupted his thoughts._

The brownrider shook his head, _Tell him that I was not daydreaming..._

_But you were... you were thinking of her again._

_Allright, I was, but I'm not going to admit that to him._ He sighed and stroked Elanth's neck, waiting for R'nahl to give the signal to start flaming. His wingleader raised his arm just as the gray smudge appeared on the horizon dropping it only seconds after the Weyrleader did. Elanth turned his head around for N'kar to feed him more firestone, and then the whole Weyr surged forward as one to meet the mindless invasion.

Elanth immediately rose to sear a clump of thread from the sky, then tucked his wings to his side and let himself drop a few feet in order to avoid a strand that Addeth rushed in and charred. N'kar ducked low on Elanth's neck to avoid the still burning ash and then they were moving on to the next clump. The rest of the fall quickly became a blur; they would dive or soar to scorch thread from the sky, occasionally blinking between to avoid other clumps, or dropping below the action to grab a new bag of firestone from a waiting weyrling.

A fresh flight of dragons from Telger Weyr surged forward to take over the fall when they crossed over the river separating Lemos from Telgar hold. N'kar let Elanth drift back, relieved that the fall had been lighter than normal and that they shared it with Telgar. Now they could go back to the Weyr and he could give Elanth the bath he needed and spend the rest of the evening relaxing.

_R'nahl asks Xanth to tell the wing that F'lar wants us to do a sweep over Bitra._

N'kar groaned to himself, but raised his arm to signal that he had gotten the message. He then gave Elanth the coordinates and asked the brown to take them between.

* * *

Lysith was not happy about being covered with dirt. While she did not complain, her eyes were a whirling yellow green, and she constantly huffed, sending dried leaves dancing through the air. She wriggled every time Kayta applied a new handful of mud to her, creating small avalanches of dirt that slid down her hide and revealed the golden skin underneath.

Her rider couldn't really blame her though. She imagined having handfuls of cold mud slapped all over her hide was not very pleasant. However, they had been in a rush when they left the Weyr and Kayta did not have time to paint the dragon green like she normally did. And even if they had had time, she didn't think she could manage carrying around a bucket full of paint at the moment.

At least this way it would be easier to clean her up when they returned to the Weyr rather than spending hours trying to scrub Lysith's golden hide clean. Also, the muddy camouflage helped the queen dragon blend in with the trees more, making it harder for any watch riders to see. Stepping back to survey her work, Kayta threw another couple of branches on top of the pile of mud that was her dragon then sat on the ground heavily when a dizzy spell took her, making the trees around her spin around her.

_You are not well._

Kayta sent her reassuring thoughts. _I am fine._

_No, you are not. The healer said that he had hurt your head, that you should be sleeping._

_I can't rest._ Not until I know what happened. The Weyrwoman had awoken this morning to find that the Weyr was in an uproar. During the night, the holders that Z'char had condemned to death had disappeared. Kayta had been impressed; N'bel had promised that he and M'rocav would take care of the holders, but she had not expected them to act so quickly! However, when she had finally gotten the older bronzerider alone and attempted to congratulate him on the daring rescue, he had admitted to her that he hadn't done anything, and was just as baffled as everyone else.

N'nyal, a green rider who had impressed at the same time she had, later told her that his weyrmate had been the one to sneak the holders out. He said the bluerider had approached the guards and told them that Z'char had sent him to take the holders between. Then he had taken them back to their hold to pack up a few things before stranding them and their families near Nabol.

Kayta was immediately suspicious. M’taren and N’nyal had only joined her and M’rocav at a gather once, nearly five turns ago. They had used coordinates that she had had Lysith pass on to their dragons, and they had landed in the dark, so the odds of him remembering something to go between on was highly unlikely. While the chaos at the Weyr made her think he was telling the truth, she also knew that he looked up to Z’char so there was the odd chance that maybe, just maybe, he had done away with the holders by himself to impress the bronzerider. In fact, he had been the one to rat her and M’rocav’s relationship out to Z’char - she wouldn’t put it past him to pull something to earn his favor again.

Rather than confront him though, or upset N’nyal by voicing her concerns, she had decided to visit Nabol to see if the bluerider was telling the truth.

She pushed herself to her feet, and then stowed her helmet and wherhide jacket under a nearby bush. The Queenrider considered pulling the jacket back on so the holders would know who she was, but the day was already warm and it would be hot enough running in her wherhide pants. Hopefully her shoulder knots would be enough.

_They will know you are Weyrwoman. How could they not know?_

_The brownrider did not know._

_This is different. These are your holders. They will know._

_Yes love._ Lysith could be so stubborn sometimes. Just like her, N'bel would say. Smiling to herself Kayta took off in a ground eating lope. She had spotted the clearing the holders had been dropped off from dragon back and knew it wasn't too far to the North of where she had hidden Lysith. It shouldn't take more than a quarter of a candlemark for her to reach it. After a couple of yards though, her head began to pound again, and she quickly had to slow.

_You should be..._

_...Resting, I know, I know_. Kayta sighed to herself; this was going to take much longer than she expected if she couldn't push herself harder than a walk. Hopefully the Holders hadn't made it very far from the clearing M’taren had deposited them in. N’nyal had said that they had children with them, however the clearing wasn’t very far from the main road that led into Nabol. Once they reached the road, their trail would be lost amongst the tracks of the others who used it on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, the clearing was empty by the time she reached it. She circled the clearing, hoping to find evidence of which direction they had went, but they had covered their tracks well.

She kicked at a pile of leaves on the ground, watching as they scattered through the air. So much for her grand plan - instead of finding out if the holders were okay or not, all she had was a headache to show for her efforts.

And then she heard the murmur.

At first she thought it might be a brook, but then she remembered that there weren’t any brooks or streams in this part of Nabol, and, judging from the dry grass underfoot, there had not been any rain here in a good long while. She followed the sound through the trees, trying to locate its source. It rose and ebbed, finally breaking apart into separate voices punctuated by the occasional laugh.

Ahead, in between breaks in the forest, she could see the road. Holders and traders traveled up it, some on foot, others in wagons or on herdbeasts.

Nabol was having a gather.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard to find the holders after all.

* * *

 

"Well, that was lovely," N'kar couldn't help but comment while he slapped his gloves against his thigh. Thread dust exploded off them in a cloud, making the guards near the door step back.

R'nahl chuckled, "The flag was flying. It's protocol to stop and see what he wanted."

Right as the wing had been about to start their sweep over the area, the bronzerider had seen the signal flag on the fire heights above Bitra hold and had asked N'kar to stop with him to see what the Lord Holder wanted. Little had they known that all he wanted to do was demand Benden Weyr's help with shooing the holdless off his lands. Supposedly his steward had noticed a depletion in their stores, and Sigomal was of the opinion that the holdless were at fault. R'nahl, who's eyes had begun to glaze over during the tirade, had perked up a bit at that. When his wingsecond shot him an inquiring look, he held out his hand to stop the Brownrider's question. Not surprisingly, Sigomal did not pick up on the interaction. The man may be a Lord Holder, but he wasn't always the sharpest tool in the shed. Personally N'kar thought the Holder was mad for blaming the holdless. F'lar himself had stated that the population of the holdless in the North had gone down since the Southern Continent had become available for settlement. Sure life down there was tougher at times, but, in N'kar's opinion, the weather and scenery in the South were far superior to being stuck in a crowded hold or the cold Bitran forest. And why would the holdless steal when they had marks or services they could trade for food or fabric? Just because they were holdless did not mean that they were broke. Granted, some holdless could be lazy, and unwilling to work, but then there was always a lazy man here or there regardless of if they were holder, crafter, or dragonman.

They had continued to listen to his whining politely, then excused themselves by saying they still had a sweep ride to do and had reminded him that the Weyrs did not get involved in hold matters before leaving.

"I say next time we temporarily forget protocol and let someone else deal with him."

"That would be a great idea... if F'lar wouldn't have our hides for it." R'nahl's gaze grew distant as he checked in with Xanth for updates on the rest of the wing. "D'rean says the South is clear, and J'lin the West is as well."

“Good. So we can return to the Weyr then.”

“Actually, I was thinking of visiting a Gather today.”

“A Gather. Who is having a gather?”

“Nabol.”

“Nabol!” N’kar cried out. That was still the last place he would ever want to go to a gather at! Lord Meron had been dead and gone for many turns - his ashes scattered across the fireheights of his hold - but the area’s reputation had not improved much since his passing.

“Do you have a better idea on how to spend your evening?”

“Yes - a bath, a hearty meal, and then bed.”

“And you wonder why you never have any luck with women.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing.” R’nahl crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against his dragon’s leg. “Come out with us. Perhaps you’ll meet someone.”

“The last time I met someone, it did not go well.” The brownrider turned to jump up on to Elanth’s forearm.

“Maybe she’ll be there.”

“Who?”

“That blasted runner that you keep mooning over - who else?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled. “Sure you don’t.”

R’nahl had a point though; he wouldn’t meet anyone if he didn’t leave his weyr. N’kar sighed. “Fine. Do we at least have time to clean up. I doubt anyone will want anything to do with us if we’re reek of firestone and ash.”

“Oh, I’m sure we can make time.”

* * *

Kayta tucked her shoulder knots into her pocket, and then stepped out on to the road. She kept her head down and followed the other holders and crafters heading to Nabol.

She had thought that trying to find the holders amongst the sea of humanity that had flooded the gather would be impossible - like trying to find a needle in a haystack. However, they were surprisingly easy to pick out from the rest of the crowd. For one thing, their clothing was a little more worn than the other holders and crafters. Secondly, their children stared and pointed at everything, despite their parents best attempts to stop them from creating a scene.

She smiled to herself as she followed them, remembering her own first gather. Blue Vale had been too small to have gathers, but every year her uncle would head to the large one held at Benden Hold in the Spring. One year he had decided to take Malena, perhaps in the hopes of introducing her to the Lord Holder’s sons, and Malena had begged him to take Gineara and Kayta along. The three of them had wandered the stalls, staring at all the items that were available for sale just like the holder’s children were doing.

They had also feasted on bubbly pies until they couldn’t walk. Her mouth watered at the memory of those delightful little treats, how the warm pie crust had melted on her tongue and how sweet the berry filling had been. She had had several bubbly pies during her clandestine trips to the mainland since then, but none of them had tasted quite as good.

However, she doubted that the holders had any marks as marks weren’t used on the islands, so there would be no bubbly pies for their children today. And since they had no references, they may never be able to find a job, so the children might never get to taste how amazing bubbly pies could me.

A plan formed in her mind. She could accidentally bump into the group and drop some marks for the children to find. If she kept her head down they probably wouldn’t recognize her, and if she kept going and disappeared into the crowd, they wouldn’t be able to find her if they did suspect something.

Lysith was less than thrilled at her plan. She could feel the dragon’s hesitence as she began to walk towards the group of holdless standing in the middle of the pathway. _I do not know if this is a good idea._

_It’s the least I can do considering what they’ve been through._ Kayta replied. She fumbled with the pouch of marks hanging from her belt, pretending to dig through it.

And then she ran smack dab into the very hard chest of a dragonrider.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original story featured the holders being left by M'taren in a field near Bitra. Kayta goes to find them because she doesn't quite trust M'taren. However the holders find her first. It occurred to me that, after what Z'char did, Lysith would not be thrilled at Kayta being held captive - even if it was only for a short period of time. Also, those chapters were pretty short, maybe 1500 words each, and the dialogue wasn't the greatest - in fact it felt like it was running in circles sometimes. So I changed the setting, cut out some of the events, and combined the chapters to make one master chapter to rule them all.


	7. Chapter 7

Falling backwards from the impact, Kayta landed hard on her backside. She sat there for a second, momentarily stunned as the gather stalls tilted and swayed around her.

"Runner Kai?" The voice was surprised but familiar and Kayta opened up her eyes to find N'kar standing over her. Oh, of all the sharding luck! "Are you all right?"

"Do you always end up asking people that when you see them?" She groaned.

The brownrider smiled and ducked his head to his chest for a minute to hide it. "Not usually, but then the only person who seems to run into me is you. This is …what? The second time now?"

Kayta took a deep breath and bowed her head, forcing herself back into the role of the timid runner Kai."Yes. I'm sorry Brownrider. I swear I'll pay better attention in the future."

"I was only teasing, Kai." His smile seemed to falter a little at her apology. He held out a hand to help her up. "Here, let me…"

Kayta ignored it and slowly pulled her feet beneath her to stand. The world shifted around her once again, and she closed her eyes for a moment until it stop. The last thing she wanted was to be sick all over N’kar’s boots.

“You look like you need to sit down.”

“I’m fine.” She insisted. When she opened her eyes once more, the world was behaving and staying put. However, she saw that her little run in with the dragonman had drawn quite a bit of attention. Several holders had stopped to watch the scene play out before them - including the attention of the islanders. An old uncle in the group stared at her, his eyebrows inching up towards his hairline in surprise when he finally recognized who she was.

Shards.

She turned in the other direction, leading N’kar away from them. “I’m surprised to find you here, Brownrider. After everything that happened with Brekke and Kylara, I would think that dragonriders would want to stay far far away from Nabol.”

“A friend convinced me to come.” He glanced behind them at the hold. “I admit I had my doubts, but it appears that the new Lord Holder has done well.”

“Ah.”

"I'm surprised to see you here, too."

“Really?”

“Nabol is a long ways away from Southern Boll-”

She laughed, cutting him off. "You haven't done a lot of walking lately have you?"

“No,” He confessed. “I haven’t.”

“It’s been at least three weeks since we last met. Runners are built for speed, so that’s more than enough time for me to make it from-”

N’kar grabbed her wrist, pulling her to a stop. She stared down at his hand - his palm was rough and warm, so warm, against her skin. He quickly dropped his hand, letting her go.

“I’m not doubting you. It’s just...” He ran his other hand through his hair. Hair, she noticed, that had been trimmed since the last time she had seen him. While she had found him attractive despite the shaggy locks, she felt this new style suited him better. “After you left the last gather, I never expected to see you again.”

“Oh.”

“Especially when none of the station masters near the Weyr knew who you were.”

Shards and shells, Kayta cursed silently. He had looked for her. While a part of her was flattered, another part of her knew that if he continued nosing around he would find out who she really was. "I'm not your typical runner. I'm a private runner - for a holder. Most of the messages I carry are verbal."

"For a holder? Which one? The one from the gather?" His voice sounded tense, and if Kayta didn't know better she would have thought that he was jealous.

"I'm not at liberty to say, but, no, it's not Miro." She quickly started down the pathway again. “I really must be going.”

N’kar grabbed her wrist again. “Stay. Please.”

"I'd really rather not. I have a message I’m delivering and I don’t want my pay to be docked.”She tried to twist her arm out of his grasp, but the movement hurt her already bruised biceps. She grit her teeth together as it throbbed from the abuse.

The brownrider’s eyebrows drew together and he frowned. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.”

“Kai...”

“Please let me go.”

He got that faraway look in his eyes that most dragonriders got when talking to their dragons. There was something peaceful and loving about it that caught Kayta off guard. Feeling a strange pang she looked at the ground while she felt for her own connection to Lysith to distract her from the man standing next to her. Sadly the queen was asleep and oblivious to the position her rider was in. “My friends are nearby. At least stay long enough to meet them.”

She sighed. “Fine.”

He linked his fingers through hers and pulled her along behind him through the crowds of the gather. As they walked, she kept her eyes open for possible escape routes. There were gaps between some of the stalls that she could easily slip through, but that would be too small for N’kar to follow. She decided that as soon as he let go of her hands, she would head for the nearest one, and then disappear in the crowds. Once she had lost him she could return to her dragon and then head safely back to the Island and the comfort of their weyr.

N’kar squeezed her hand. “Don’t be afraid. They won’t bite.”

“I’m not afraid.” Kayta snapped.

“Then what are you so worried about?”

“I’m not-”

“You’re a million dragonlengths away.”

“I just... don’t want to be late. That’s all.” She lied.

"I would be personally happy to help you make up for any lost time."

"No thank you. I'd rather just run."

"Why?" The brownrider looked surprised. "Are you afraid of dragons?"

Kayta snorted. "No."

"Well you're afraid of dragonriders…"

"You're a dragonrider. And I'm talking to you aren't I? I'm not cowering in fear am I?"

"Not now, but when I first met you, you did." N'kar squeezed her hand. "And here you are, balking at the idea of talking to another dragonrider... so one must assume that you are afraid of dragonriders."

She snorted. "No, I'm not afraid of dragonriders."

"Then why not?"

"Oh, for the love of Faranth!" Kayta growled. Dragonmen! Apparently they were just as frustrating regardless of they were on the Island or the Mainland!

She opened her mouth and was about to yell at him to just leave her be, to forget about her and whatever silly little crush he might have on her when she heard someone call his name. Another dragonrider, tall with dark hair, waved at them from a distance. N’kar held up his hand, motioning for him to come over.

The crowds parted around him, and then Kayta saw the woman following in his wake.

Malena.

As much as she might miss her, she couldn’t risk being seen by her old friend. If they knew she was alive... if they figured out who she was... if they found out about the weyr...

The desire to run was overpowering. However, running would only attract attention. Plus N’kar still had a firm grip on her hand.

She stood up on her tip toes, wrapped her arms around N’kar’s neck, and pulled his face down until his lips met hers.

The brownrider stiffened, and he inhaled a sharp breath that made the fly away hair that had escaped from her braid dance in the air. Slowly he began to relax. His hands came to rest on her waist, and he pulled her close until she was pressed against him from chest to toe.

Off in the distance, Kayta could hear N’kar friend’s laugh. The shouted catcalls at them, begging them to find someplace more private. She refused to back away and break off the kiss though - not until she was sure that they were gone and that it was safe.

Thankfully, N’kar seemed to have no desire to break things off either. He slanted his mouth over hers, and parted his lips attempting to take the kiss farther.

Kayta warred with her conscience. She knew she should try to keep things chaste- leading the poor man on when she had every intention of never seeing him again was unfair to him. But at the same time it had been so long since someone, anyone, had showed her any sort of affection that wasn’t strictly platonic.

By Faranth, she missed it.

Judging from the way N’kar prolonged the kiss, it had been awhile for him too. He kissed as if he wanted to memorize every moment, every sensation. He started off slow, then gradually deepened it until his tongue danced with hers. She had to fist her hands in his tunic to steady herself, if she didn’t, she was afraid that the force of his attentions might very well knock her over.

When she thought enough time had passed, Kayta opened her eyes and peeked over his shoulder. Her plan had worked - Malena and the bronzerider were gone. In their place were several gather goers who were trying not to stare at the public display of affection that was interrupting their shopping.

Feeling relieved, she finally broke off the kiss.

N’kar’s breathing was ragged, and he had to clear his throat twice before he could finally speak. “That was... unexpected.”

“Yes.” Kayta licked her lips. “I’m sorry to surprise you like that... I don’t normally-”

“Feel free to surprise me any time you want.”

She laughed. “Perhaps another time.”

“There is plenty of time right now.” His hands left her waist to cup her elbows.

“I need to go. I have messages to deliver, remember?”

“I told you I can help with that.” He was rubbing her upper arms now, and she was trying not to wince whenever he brushed over the bruises that were hidden by her shirt.

“And I said I’d rather not.”

“Please, Kai. I have been searching all over for you, please allow me a candlemark of your time.”

“I can’t. I don’t have time right now to dally.”

“We can solve that with a short trip between.” His squeezed her arms gently, Kayta gasped as pain shot up her shoulder and down to her fingertips. For a split second she thought might faint, or be sick, and she bit down hard on her tongue to stay conscious. N'kar quickly wrapped an arm around her back. He guided her over to a space between two gather tents, and supported her as she sank down to the ground with her arm cradled against her. "Are you all..."

"I'm fine." Kayta cut him off.

"No, you're not." She could hear the concern in his voice and looked up to see him crouched next to her. He motioned to her arm, which she held protectively against her body. "I'm no healer, but may I?"

"I told you; I'm fine. Besides it's none of your business anyways. Dragonrider's don't get involved in holder affairs."

"Shards woman!" The brownrider growled. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, we try to avoid holder or crafthall problems unless it's something that affects all of Pern..."

"Then, as this is hardly a problem that affects all Pern: Please, let me go."

"...But," He held up a finger to silence her. "If a friend or a family member is in trouble, the charter can be damned."

"We aren’t friends.”

He flinched at her words.

“We barely know each other." She reminded him.

“Even so, I care about you. Let me help.”

She closed her eyes as an especially painful throb made her wince.

I trust him. He is not like the other one, he is nice. Lysith spoke up suddenly. She still sounded groggy from her nap and Kayta couldn't help but smile to herself a little.

The Weyrwoman sighed and opened her eyes to find that the brownrider was still watching her. Reluctantly she held out her arm to him and he gently took her wrist. He pushed back her shirt sleeve until it was rucked up near her shoulder, hissing in sympathy when saw the bruising on her bicep, "Who did this to you? That holder?"

"N'kar..."

“Forgive me for being concerned, but he didn’t seem pleased with you at the gather.”

"He’s rarely pleased with anything I do nowadays.” She laughed. “But, no, it wasn’t him."

"Then tell me..." He fumbled around in a pouch at his belt with his free hand and pulled out a scrap of cloth and a small jar of numbweed. Letting her wrist go for a moment, he dabbed the cloth in the salve and then smeared it over the bruise. "...who it was?”

“Why, so you can sic your dragon on him?”

“The thought had occured to me.”

She shook her head. “Let it go. What’s done is done, and I’ll be more careful next time.”

N’kar sighed, but his lips remained pressed into a firm line. “Has a healer seen these?”

“Yes.”

"And he let you run a message like this?" N'kar quirked an eyebrow at her, then chuckled to himself when she avoided his eyes. "The healer doesn't know, do they?"

"They're just bruises."

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they go down to the bone. Did he get your other arm as well?" He let go of her wrist and was soon treating her other bicep. The bruises were just as vivid there, and it was easy to make out the individual finger marks. "You're insane."

The touch of his hands on her skin felt wonderful, and despite everything she found herself wondering if he was just as tender about other things. She quickly shut off that train of thought before it could go any further though - that simply wasn’t possible.

But was it? Judging from how the way he had acted at the Southern Boll gather, how he had asked around about her, and from his reaction to the kiss she had planted on him, he was definitely interested in her and wanted her.

_Yes,_ Lysith confirmed her suspicions. _He feels very strongly about you. He is conflicted though, there was another he felt very strongly about, and it did not end well._

_And how do you know about all this? You didn’t talk to his dragon did you?_

_I did not need to. He is very loud. Like the other one was very loud when you shared his bed._

Kayta flushed and looked at the ground. She had not realized that Lysith had been listening during those rare moments when she and M’rocav had been alone. _Regardless of how he feels, it’s foolish. What if he found out?_

_He doesn’t need to know. I can hide._

_No, no more. I don’t want to risk any more close calls._

"Are you able to walk?"

"My legs are fine." To prove that she was capable of moving on her own two feet Kayta stood and promptly stumbled when the world decided to tilt on her. The brownrider was quick to catch her and steadied her against him, deftly avoiding coming into contact with her arms by holding her around the waist. She tried to pull away once the dizzy spell had faded, but he continued to hold her close. "You can let me go now. I swear I’m fine.”

"I’m beginning to think you don’t understand the meaning of the word ‘fine’.” But he slowly dropped his hands and took a step back.

She stood still for a second, then walked around in a small circle in front of him. "See?"

The brownrider didn't respond, but she could feel him watching her as she continued to pace around. His eyes scanned over her body, either looking for further signs of injury or appreciating the view. If she went by the glimmer in his eyes, and the way he gripped his belt in his hands, she was inclined to guess the later.

It really was a pity things couldn’t go any further than the kiss she had given him. He was a fine specimen himself - tall, with broad shoulders and a strong jaw. He frowned suddenly, that jaw line of his becoming tight as he pressed his lips together into a thin line. "Is everything all right, Brownrider?"

"I was just admiring your pants."

Shards. He had finally noticed them. "Oh... these old things?" Her smile faltered and she laughed nervously. "They were just the first clean things I saw when I was woken up to run this message the other day."

"They must be hot to run in."

"You have no idea. I'll probably pack them away until winter when I get home."

“Why don’t I take you home?” His tone was friendly, and he was smiling once again, but there was an undercurrent of suspicion in his words now. “I know you claim that you are fine and fully capable of running your messages yourself, but I don’t want you running around and making your injuries worse.”

"I appreciate your concern, brownrider, but the answer is still no."She turned to leave, suddenly desperate to put as much space between them as possible.

"Then at least let me know that you've gotten back to your hold in one piece. Just send a note with that blue of yours if he's around, or pass it on by other runners if he's not well trained."

"I'll be fine."

"It's either this, or I follow you on Elanth."

"Okay." She forced herself to smile. "I make no promises, but I'll try."

"Good enough." N'kar took her hand and pressed a kiss against it gently before letting go. "Farwell, Runner Kai. Until we meet again."

"Farwell, Brownrider." She walked away, dodging between people and gather stalls, desperate to put as much space between them as quickly as possible without arousing any suspicion. Then, once she had reached the road, she ran, glancing behind her frequently to make sure he hadn’t followed her.

 


	8. Chapter 8

"The holdless are becoming a problem again." R'nahl told N'kar after the following day. The two riders stood off to the side of the feeding grounds while their dragons hunted.

N’kar was surprised. "Yesterday was the first that I've heard of anything."

"Bitra is the first complaint I've heard personally but F'lar said at the last meeting that some of the other holders have been noticing supplies missing as well. Things like older grain or sick beasts from their herds. And there were quite a few grumbles at Nabol today."

N'kar frowned. "How big of a problem is this?"

"Continent wide."

"And they're upset about items missing that they wouldn't have used anyways?"

"No. The majority of the reports are coming from smaller holds and it's this type of pilfering really hurts them. Those are beasts and grain that could have been killed for food or for trade. It's almost like Thella is back from the dead." R'nahl waved at his weyrmate, Malena, who was on the other side of the feeding grounds from them. The Queenrider ignored him and he sighed to himself - apparently whatever good will she had had towards the bronzerider had faded. N’kar found himself wondering what had happened at the gather to put her in such a mood. “It gets worse.”

“Worse?” N'kar asked while he watched Elanth. The brown dragon pulled a large bull off to one side, and promptly started devouring the carcass.

"One of the holders who was stolen from claims he saw a dragon leaving his hold just before he and his family discovered what had happened. They were not able to tell what weyr he was from though. Another holder at the gather yesterday had a similar story.”

“Are you sure he was telling the truth, and not just too far in his cups and recounting an event that happened when the Oldtimers were around?”

“The man was sober. Xanth was eyeing that bull by the way."

"Well, that'll teach him to be slow around a brown." Elanth had already made short work of the meat, and was eyeing another heardbeast. N'kar made a mental note to call him in after the next kill. Two good sized herdbeasts were more than enough for any dragon. "So the holders are accusing us of stealing again."

"Not yet. They haven’t put two and two together yet, but it does seem suspicious doesn’t it?"

"But dragonmen have no reason to steal, and the oldtimers who used to are all gone. What does F'lar have to say about all of this?"

"He suspects it may be a rogue dragonrider who might be acting on his own. The Weyrleaders have searched their respective Weyrs, but they didn’t find any extra supplies. They are asking all of us to keep our eyes open for any unusual activity.”

“Mm.” He thought of Kai, and their encounter today. While his lips still burned from her kiss, his mind turned the events that had followed afterwards over and over in his mind. First there had been the far away look she got in her eyes - a look that he saw on other riders faces when they were communicating with their dragons. Then there had been the pants she had been wearing - wherhide was common, but the straps and buckles on them were similar to straps and buckles he had on the pants he wore when riding Elanth. And last, but not least, there had been the shoulder knots he had found half buried in the mud between gather stalls.

Queen rider shoulder knots.

“You’re thinking of her again, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” N’kar admitted.

“Given how head over heals you are about this girl, I thought you would have leapt at the opportunity to rescue her from whatever brutes might have hurt her - or at least hole her up somewhere until she gives in to your advances. Judging from the kiss she gave you, I doubt you would have had to wait long.”

N'kar threw a rock at the other man, who easily ducked out of the way. He didn't want to admit that the thought had crossed his mind - that he had nearly dragged Kai back to his weyr after he had seen her bruises. It would have been for her own safety, of course, to protect her from whatever holder had abused her so and to give her time to rest and heal. But he couldn't deny he had also entertained the thought that maybe, just maybe, she might have been more than willing and would have let him have her. His hands burned to hold her, to soothe the bruises away, to caress her, to make her cry out his name.

It was an ache he hadn't felt in a long time.

Hadn't he learned his lesson with Llydwen though? He had rescued her from a bad situation and look how that had turned out.

Kai however, was an entirely different problem. Perhaps she was a weyrmate of, or related to, a dragonrider. That could be why she wore wherhide pants. Perhaps that dragonman did not approve of the association she had formed with him, a brownrider of Benden, which could explain the bruises.

But it did not explain those blasted knots he had found or their colors.

Cursing, he tossed another pebble across the ledge he and R'nahl were standing on. The other man frowned at him. "Stop moping."

"I'm not moping."

“Sure you aren’t.” R'nahl chuckled.

N'kar sighed. “You mentioned, earlier, that F’lar thinks there’s a renegade dragonrider behind these thefts."

“Yes. Malena has a theory that maybe it was a weyrling who came from a poor family, or was holdless, and is afraid of not having enough again. I told her that she was being ridiculous.” That explained the foul look the queenrider had given the bronzerider earlier.

“What if there was a Weyr of dragonriders that we didn’t know about?” N’kar said the words slowly, finally giving voice to the thoughts that had been rushing through his head.

R’nahl stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious!”

“What if I am?”

“It’s not possible. We would know. Our dragons would sense it any time one of theirs died.”

“Think about it though - it would explain the missing supplies and the strange brownrider.”

“It might also explain the girls who have gone missing.”

“Girls are going missing?” N’kar frowned. “No one has mentioned it.”

“It’s mostly holder girls. They’re usually from hidebound holds and are unhappy with their lives based on reports their parents have made, so they run away.”

“Like Menolly did.”

“Exactly. Most of them are usually found a few turns later at one of the Halls, or down South with a baby on their hips. But there’s some that are never found.” He trailed off, frowning as he mulled the idea over. However, he quickly shook his head. “No, it isn’t possible. We would know.”

“It was just a theory.”

“A crazy one. I wouldn’t mention it around the others unless you want them to think that you’re looney.”

“So who do you think is behind the missing supplies?”

“Oldtimers?”

“Oldtimers.”

And here R’nahl had thought his idea was ridiculous. “The older ones are all dead, and the young ones came to their senses.”

“Not all - there are a few that are just as entitled as their elders.”

N’kar had to admit he had a point. There were some younger oldtimers that were just as bad as old T’ron. “Well where are they keeping everything they steal then?”

“Either down South or deep in one of the mountain ranges.”

The more he thought about it, it was a sound theory. “What about the girls then?”

“They’re probably the ones behind that too. Speaking of missing girls, Malena thinks your runner looks a lot like the friend she lost years ago." R’nahl said.

“Why didn’t she say anything earlier?”

“I refused to let her interrupt you since you were quite obviously enjoying yourself.”

"That’s why she’s so mad at you!”

“Yes. Though I’m sure there’s a host of other reasons as well.”

“All the reports say that she died though. The searchers found her belt knife and buckle – nothing else. That's pretty strong evidence that thread got her."

"Malena reminded me today that there was no burrow, and that one of the first riders out there reported seeing boot marks and dragonprints." The bronzerider pointed out. "However none of the Weyrs reported rescuing anyone that day, except for Malena and Ginaera."

“She was wearing shoulder knots from Blue Vale at the last gather.” He sighed. He had hoped another motive had been behind the kiss, but know that he thought about it, he remembered that Kai had been desperate to get away from him. It hadn’t been until he had tried to introduce her to R’nahl and the others that she had become suddenly affectionate.

But why didn’t she want her old friend to see her?

N'kar saw Elanth going for a wherry out of the corner of his eye and pulled the dragon up short, _There is no reason to gorge if you're not hungry anymore. Leave some for the rest._

_It looks so tasty though!_

_You'll be too fat to fly if you keep eating everything that looks tasty._ N'kar chuckled at his dragon, and then nodded at Malena. "Are you going to tell her about Kai?"

"I would like to." R'nahl frowned again as he concentrated on pulling Xanth in from the hunt.

"Don't. At least not just yet."

"Why?"

"What if you're wrong and Kai isn't Malena's friend? Do you want to get Malena's hopes up only to crush them like that?" Elanth landed near them and lowered his head so that N'kar could rub his eye ridges. "It wouldn't exactly help your cause with our dear queenrider."

"What if I'm right?"

"I don't think Kai would appreciate having her old friend suddenly turn up on a massive dragon while she's running on a trace." In the Weyrbowl someone started to call out that it was dinner time. N'kar patted his brown's neck one last time and sent him up to the weyrledge to soak in what was left of the sun. R'nahl did the same with his bronze, and the two riders began to walk towards the dinning cavern.

"Allright, but if Malena finds out about us not telling her sooner, and she gets upset, I will be letting her know that it's all your idea." The bronzerider shook a finger at his wingsecond.

Thankfully dinner was relatively quiet; D'rean was far too focused on flirting with Ginaera to give N'kar a hard time about the runner, and R'nahl managed to distract Malena whenever she started to ask about Kai. N'kar ate quickly, and then went to check in with Nelladwyn's foster mother to see how the boy was doing. The boy stayed at the back of the room and, like normal, did not greet his father, while the rest of the foster children surged around the brownrider and asked for stories about the fall. The woman quickly chased them off and Nelladwyn escaped with them, but before the boy left N'kar was happy to note that he looked healthy and appeared to have grown some.

N'kar shared a glass of wine with the boy's foster mother, but quickly left when he realized that the woman was hoping for an invitation up to his weyr. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy her company or find her attractive, but he had heard stories that she was popular with over half of the riders in the Weyr and did not enjoy the thought of spending the night with someone whose company his friends might have enjoyed before him.

_This woman does not pretend and would make you happy._ Elanth intruded into his thoughts as he crossed the weyrbowl.

_She's not Kai._

_Then find her and catch her like a green._ N'kar asked Elanth to ferry him up to their weyrledge, and, once inside the weyr, he stripped the dragon of his harness and watched as the big brown curled up on his couch.

_I don't think she would enjoyed being wooed that way._

_You make things so much harder than they need to be._ The brown dragon snorted, sending dust flurries dancing through the air.

_Yes, I do think your lot has it easier when it comes to mating._ N'kar smiled and scratched the dragon's eye ridges until the eyelids closed one by one and he was sure Elanth was asleep. The dragon reeked of firestone and charred thread, and he realized that he himself didn't smell much better. He headed towards the bathing caverns at the back of his sleeping alcove, stripping himself of his tunic, wherhide jacket, pants and boots along the way.

His bathing room was not nearly as nice as some of the other dragonriders since he was higher up on the Weyr wall. The pool was only as long as he was tall, and the water only came up to about his mid thigh, but that was really all he needed. He quickly scrubbed down with some soapsand and sat, letting the warm water rinse away the suds and relax his sore muscles.

N'kar was just beginning to doze off when he heard something crash in the chamber beyond, startling him out of a pleasant dream. He cursed to himself and climbed out of the water, then wrapped a towel around his middle just in case. He didn't think Nelladwyn's foster mother would have gotten into her head to follow him, but then he had heard stranger stories about some of the lower cavern's inhabitants before. He pushed aside the curtain separating the two rooms only to find that his sleeping quarters were empty except for a blue firelizard that was trying to find room to land on one of N'kar's shelves. It had no painted on crest or markings showing what hold it might be from, but even so he knew that it was the runner's.

The brownrider didn't know what to do for a minute. Even though Kai had promised him to send word that she had arrived at wherever safe and sound, he hadn't really expected her to do so. Yet here was her firelizard, zipping around his head and chattering at him in annoyance. He held out his arm for the creature to land on and deftly untied the bit of parchment from its hind leg. The firelizard went to jump up and leave, but N'kar distracted the creature by offering the blue some pieces of fruit left over from breakfast the day before. He coached the blue onto his bed with some more of the fruit, which the firelizard greedily inhaled.

N'kar shook his head at it and unrolled the bit of parchment. The note inside was cramped and a little sloppy, so much so that he imagined that it had probably been written seconds before Kai had fallen asleep:

_"I have made it home safely. Thank you for the numbweed."_

The last line had been scratched out and rewritten at least once or twice:

_"...I did not mean to be... I apologize for being so much... I am sorry..."_

Sorry for what? For trying to run away from him? For being so stubborn? For leading him on?N'kar sat down on his bed and stretched out his legs in front of him. He looked down at the firelizard next to him, "You're her firelizard: you wouldn't happen to know what she's thinking, would you?"

The blue blinked at him once or twice, and quickly returned to his fruite. The brownrider sighed. "I didn't think you would."

_Elanth..._ He hated to wake up his dragon, but he had to see his idea from earlier through.

_Yes?_

_Can you talk to this fellow and see if he can tell you where he is from? We might be able to find out about Kai's hold from him._

N'kar watched as the firelizard stopped eating the fruit. It chirped in surprise and twisted it's body around to peer through the doorway into the weyr beyond where Elanth's eye's whirled slowly in the darkness. _Kai is not from a hold. She is from a Weyr!_

_A weyr? Where?_ He was surprised – maybe there was a rogue dragonrider after all. Acting as if nothing was wrong, he grabbed a writing stick from his bedside table and wrote out a quick note for the blue to take back to Kai. Folding it over he tied it back to the firelizard's leg. It was so entranced by Elanth that it hardly noticed what he was doing.

_Not a weyr, a Weyr! It is not one that I recognize_. Elanth shared with N'kar what the firelizard had shown him. The brownrider had a quick impression of a hot and humid beach surrounded on two sides by a high cliff, except for the third where a jungle. Unfortunately it was not strong nor vivid enough for Elanth to use to go between to.

N’kar stared at the blue firelizard. His crazy theory was correct. There was another Weyr. One no one knew about. And Kai was a part of it.


	9. Chapter 9

"You went back to the Mainland, didn't you?" Kayta looked over to the door of the records room to see M'rocav standing there, watching her. "I thought you had promised N'bel that you wouldn't be going back there."

"I told him I would only go if it was Weyr business." Out of paranoia, Kayta got up and checked the windows of the room before saying anything else. Even though she knew Z'char was passed out again from another drinking binge, she worried that one of his dedicated 'friends' could be loitering nearby. Not that it mattered - when M’rocav was upset the man was loud enough that the whole Weyr could hear him. It was a pitty he hadn’t been born on the mainland as the harper hall would have loved him for his ability to project. "M'taren told me about the holders. I wanted to make sure that they were safe and that they wouldn't give us away."

"Did Z'char knocking you around damage your brain, girl? Not only did you break your promise to N'bel, but you've gone against the first thing he ever taught you!" M'rocav yelled, making Kayta flinch as she returned to her chair. "In order for us to survive, we must stay hidden. Every time you go to the mainland there's a chance that you could be discovered!"

"This coming from the man who used to want to go to the mainland gathers on a monthly basis. No one saw me except for the holders." She lied, not wanting to admit that she had run into N’kar again. She felt her face flush at the thought of him though, and ducked her head before M'rocav could notice, pretending to study the wax plate in front of her.

"The captain of the supply boat-"

"A supply boat arrived? When?" That explained why Berjoui had brought her breakfast this morning. Kayta decided that she would have to have a chat with Deranna this afternoon. It was not right that the Weyrwoman was the last person to know about these things… especially when keeping track of the Weyr supplies where her responsibility.

"-Tells me that the mainlanders are looking for rogue dragonrider. Supposedly there have been reports of a brown dragon stealing from some of the smaller holds. You know that the survival to this Weyr is that we must be kept secret! If the mainland finds out about us..."

"If the captain claims the holds are seeing a brown dragon then why are you yelling at me?"

M'rocav frowned, "We've painted up Lysith as a brown before."

"We ran out of that paint ages ago... and she was more of a bronze once the paint dried. Besides, where are all these stolen supplies if I've been the one stealing them?"

"I don't know! You could be hiding them."

"Really, M'rocav! If I was the one stealing the supplies, why are we not eating well like Dragonmen should?" Kayta quirked an eyebrow at him when he didn't respond. "Stop scolding me for something I didn't do; I'm the Weyrwoman, not a foolish weyrling!"

"You certainly act like a weyrling sometimes! Not only did you endanger yourself and Lysith by going to the Mainland when you were injured but you've endangered us by going while they're looking for rogue dragonriders!" He started to pace. "Also, the captain tells me that we're not going to get shipments as often, if at all, because he feels he is being watched, and we've lost the few mainland holds that were helping to support us. They're afraid to send us anything now."

"You are out of line, Bronzerider!" Kayta fumed. M'rocav may have shared her bed once upon a time, but that did not give him the right to yell at her.

"There are not many riders from this Weyr who are familiar with the Mainland."

"I see one in front of me and I know of two more in your wing."

"N'nyal and M'taren wouldn't dare..."

"M'taren obviously had enough gumption to disobey Z'char and rescue the holders." She reminded him then took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. If they continued yelling like this, not only would Lysith and Lementh get upset, but they ran the risk of waking up Z'char as well. "He dropped them in an area that even I, with all my running experience, have never seen. You also forget that N'bel is just as familiar with the Mainland as I am, and Z'char is too. However, if they have been raiding, they haven't been bringing their contraband back here. We've been running short on supplies for over a month now..."

"You've known?"

"I knew something wasn't adding up, because we weren't getting any shipments, but we weren't running low like we should be…"

"… Which was because Z'char was getting the supplies from our holders."

"Exactly, but now that that has stopped we're beginning to run low again."

"Well, it probably doesn't help that you had some of the greens take the extra supplies back to the holds."

"They need food to survive as much as we do. In the meantime we can start hunting the dragons down South more - there are still plenty of areas that haven't been claimed for holds yet - and we use the herdbeasts we have here to feed the weyrfolk. Grains we can ration, but that will only last us for so long."

"The others won't go for that."

"No they won't." The other dragonriders had never liked Kayta or her ideas when they discovered that she was a mainlander. "They might take it better from you though. Consider this practice for when you do become Weyrleader."

M'rocav snorted, "If this is what being a Weyrleader involves, then no wonder Z'char drinks so much."

"Z'char drinks because he likes to drink, not because he's stressed or is worried about what will happens to us." Kayta snorted and rubbed at her temples. Maybe she should take up drinking and just lounge around in her weyr all day. It would certainly be a lot easier than all of this.

The bronzerider reached over and pulled her hands away from her face, covering them with his own. "Another headache?"

"No, I'm fine. Really." She actually had not had any since coming back from the Mainland three days ago. The amount of sleeping she did after timing it to get back to the Weyr before anyone noticed probably had something to do with that though.

"Liar," He sighed. "Things will get easier when Lementh finally flies Lysith."

"How?" She pulled her hands out of his and stood. So much of their plans relied on the change of the weyrleadership, and she was beginning to realize that that wasn't enough. "Regardless of who is or isn't the Weyrleader or the Weyrwoman, we will still have to worry about food and other supplies. In order for us to survive, the Weyr as a whole is going to have to change."

"We've survived this long just fine." The bronzerider was beginning to get offended again.

"No, actually, we're just barely surviving." Kayta grimaced, and gestured towards the hides and scrolls scattered across the table. "Going as far back as 450 turns ago the records show that we've constantly been on the edge of starvation, even after bringing in the Holders to farm for us and monitoring the dragon population we still barely survive turn after turn. The only thing that was saving us was trade with the mainland. We might be able to reopen trade again once this all blows over, maybe even before then, but..." For once words seemed to fail her and she let her speech hang unfinished for a moment while she tried to think of what to say next. M'rocav had been N'bel's protégé long before she came around and suggesting anything untraditional might set him off. She decided instead to stay on subject and not bring up any radical ideas. "I don't think that the mainland holds will want to continue trading with us now, if what this captain says is true…"

"Then we find new holds to trade with."

"There's still the problem of trying to get the supplies here though. We can't have them brought in by ship anymore, and we can't just pop out of between and pick the supplies up in front of them."

M'rocav shrugged, "Then we get handcarts, cart whatever we've traded for a far distance away, and then pick them up."

"That still leaves us with the possibility of being seen, especially with holders being on the watch for rogue dragonriders." Kayta would rather that they just came out to the rest of Pern, but she knew that that would not go over well with the rest of the Weyr.

He smiled at her, pleased with himself for figuring out a resolution to the problem. "Let's worry about getting holds to trade with first, and then we can figure out a way to get the supplies to us. What's the old saying? Where there's a will, there's a way?"

"Alright. What holds do you suggest we discuss trading with?"

"There's that group of holders I was talking to at Southern Boll's gather. They might be open to trade. You're the last mainlander we recruited to be a rider. Has your hold ever been open to tithing to us?"

Kayta snorted; 'Recruiting' was one way of putting it. "Igen, where I was born, is much too large and well known for us to trade with. The hold I grew up at might be an option. They are smaller and farther away from Benden so it would be easier for us to sneak in, however they've never been able to farm very much there - just enough to get by and make their tithes to their Lord Holder and Benden Weyr – so we may not be able to get much out of them if they are willing to trade."

"It might be worth talking to them though." He walked over and brushed a stray strand of hair out her face, pulling her in close. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out pet."

The Weyrwoman looked at him in surprise: It had been a long time since he had called her that, and it had been an equally long time since he had looked at her in that way. He began to lean in as if to kiss her and she quickly avoided it by ducking out of his arms. She grabbed some scrolls and wax plates off the table and began to shelve them haphazardly, ignoring the strain on her arms. "If you could have one of the weyrlings bring up the ship manifests it would be greatly appreciated. Once I get them, I can start figuring out how to ration things, and you can break the news to the rest of the Weyr."

"The ship manifests will be on their way as soon as the supplies are unloaded." If M'rocav was disappointed that she had shunned his advances, he wasn't showing it, but his tone was suddenly very formal. "Is there anything else you needed, Weyrwoman?"

"No. Thank you." She watched as he nodded and left the room, before sinking down into her chair again.

_Why did you not allow him to kiss you? He likes you. Don't you like him?_ Lysith was awake, and was confused by her rider's behavior. _You used to like him. You wanted him as Weyrleader._

_I still like him, and I do want him as Weyrleader – if you'll ever let Lementh fly you._

_He isn't fast enough to catch me. No one is._

_Calaranth did._

The queen dragon grumbled at the reminder. _I was younger and he tricked me._

_Uh-huh. Yes, dear_. Kayta smiled to herself.


	10. Chapter 10

True to his word, M'rocav did send up a weyrling with the shipment manifests before the afternoon was over. Kayta went over them quickly, adding the numbers to her storage records before frowning to herself: the shipment helped, but they were still short on several items. If she rationed everything down to the minimum amount needed for survival, they had enough supplies for four months. If she raised the rations to a more reasonable amount, they had at least a month and a half to two months worth of food.

She frowned and stared at the figures on the wax plate. Maybe if they took the dragons down to Southern to feed, they could use the herdbeasts they had at the Weyr to feed the weyrfolk. Not to mention that they could add to their supplies by harvesting some of the fruits available on the Islands. The riders themselves were too lazy to pick anything, but maybe it could be turned into a game for the weyrlings and other children. That should help stretch things out a bit, they would still be dangerously low on grains, but it would help.

Feeling a bit better about the situation, she turned her attention to the maps they had of the Mainland holds, and quickly decided that, if they were going to try to continue to trade, it would be best to try the smaller holds that were located farther off the normal tracks and traces. Those usually did not get traders as often as the main holds did and may have some surplus as a result…

"Didn't Berjoui say that you should be resting?"

This time it was N'bel standing over her. She sighed; apparently being able to do her work in peace and quiet was out of the question. "Doesn't anyone know how to knock anymore?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I didn't think it was necessary for one to knock in order to enter the records room, especially considering that it's open to all the riders to use."

Kayta didn't respond. She watched as he sat down in the chair across from her, wondering why he had come here; was it to scold her again? Had M'rocav complained about her turning him away? Had he let it slip that she had visited the Mainland?

"Berjoui says that you didn't send for lunch today, or for dinner."

"I wasn't hungry."

"Well, she asked me to bring you some fish rolls." He put the plate he had been carrying on the table, and pushed it towards her.

"I'm still not hungry."

"Girl…"

"Don't start." She turned back to the maps. "I'm busy and I don't have the time or the patience to be scolded by you right now like I'm some errant child."

He chuckled. "No, I wasn't about to scold you – I heard M'rocav already did that earlier."

"Lovely." So the rest of the Weyr had heard the argument.

"What are you working on?"

"Well, knowing how gossip travels, I'm sure you're aware that the holds we were trading with on the Mainland refuse to trade with us." He nodded. "So I am trying to find new holds for us to get supplies from, but it's proving to be harder than I expected."

"Eat and let me see those." The weyrlingmaster deftly tugged the maps out of her reach and spread them out in front of him, earning a glare from the Weyrwoman. "I see you've found six holds that might be suitable."

"We need more."

"Why? Six is more than enough."

"What if they don't want to trade with us?"

"They're all far enough off of the normal traces that they don't get to see some of the bigger traders. They'll be more than happy to trade with us."

Kayta poked at one of the fish rolls with her pen. "I wish I shared your optimism. I keep feeling like this is somehow going to blow up in our faces."

"It might if the wrong person is sent."

"There's the other problem – finding someone to go and talk to these holders." She reached out and grabbed N'bel's hand to get his attention. He would either love what she was about to say, or hate it. "A week ago you tried to make me promise you that I wouldn't go to the mainland…"

"And you, being your stubborn self, refused…"

She rolled her eyes skyward and continued, "…I said I wouldn't unless it was Weyr business, and you suggested I find someone else…"

"…Which you refused to do as well." He chuckled to himself again.

"You were right. I shouldn't go anywhere near the mainland. I should be sending someone else in my place." Knowing her luck, if she went back she'd probably run into that brownrider again. And as much as it would be nice to see him again, it was too dangerous.

The weyrlingmaster frowned suddenly. "What brought on this sudden realization? Did something happen the other day?"

"No! Nothing! Everything went perfectly fine."

"Then why are you blushing?"

Shards! He knew her too well. "It's not easy admitting that I was wrong."

"Mmmmm." Something in his tone told her that he didn't believe her.

"To continue with what I was saying though; I think you should be the one to go to the Mainland."

"No. I haven't been in turns, girl. Send someone else."

"There is no one else." Kayta leaned back in her chair and started counting off riders on her fingers. "Z'char won't. Besides, even if he was sober enough to go, he doesn't have the tact required for this sort of a thing. M'rocav isn't familiar enough with holder customs. M'taren's loyalties are questionable at best, and N'nyal would be distracted by the first pretty boy or shiny object."

"N'nyal has more brains than you'd think."

The Queenrider quirked an eyebrow at him, "You used to go to the Mainland a lot. In fact, that's one of the first places you taught me to go between to."

"Only because you wouldn't leave me alone until I did."

"Don't try to blame that on me. You used to go to long before I ever came around." In fact she even remembered seeing him at her Uncle's hold once or twice when she was younger. "The fact is that you're the only other one who knows how to handle holders, to make trade agreements. And even if things were better, if it was safe for me to go to the Mainland, it's still better that you go. These holds are all up in the hills – they're probably still fairly hide bound and would rather deal with another man than speak to a woman."

"You know as well as I do that there have been a lot of changes since Avias came around. They may be more open to dealing with a woman than you think."

"Just because there have been changes in Pern society like more female holders, crafthallers, and greenriders doesn't mean that everyone agrees with it and would be willing to talk to a female runner about trading with her 'hold'."

N'bel was silent as he bent over the maps again. Kayta studied his expression, hoping that she wouldn't have to resort to plan B and order him to go. While it was within her rights to do so as Weyrwoman, she respected the former Weyrleader too much to pull rank on him like that.

He tapped his fingers on the table top. "You're set on me doing this?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll go."

"Thank you," She stood and walked around the table until she was behind his chair, then bent over and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him.

"The things I do for you." He turned his head a bit so he could look her in the eye. "You owe me, girl, big time."


	11. Chapter 11

Elanth landed further away from the hold this time so as not to kick up dirt on the laundry hanging from the windows and in the yard. A lithe form ran out of the hold and was heading towards them before the brown dragon's feet even touched the ground. "He's here!"

N'kar shook his head in amusement; it had only been a month or so since Sakina had seen him at the gather. He knew she missed him but here was no reason for her to be this worked up about his arrival. His younger sister completely ignored him though, and grabbed Bayhon's arm as soon as the he had dismounted. "He's here. He arrived just a few minutes ago."

"Shards!" The holder had paled visibly. "Is Selema entertaining him?"

“Yes.”

“Where?”

"In the kitchen."

"The kitchen? Why not the den?”

“The den is still a mess from the boys-”

“Why wasn’t it cleaned then?”

“He surprised us!”

“Well, hopefully she can keep him in there for a bit longer. I can't go in there looking like this!" Bayhon took off towards the hold doors at a brisk trot.

Sakina started to follow him, but N'kar slid down from Elanth and quickly grabbed her arm to stop her. "What's going on? Has the lord holder or one of his men come to pay a visit?"

"No! A man came to visit two sevendays ago, a small holder from up farther in the hills."

"Alright."

"Apparently his brother had talked to Bayhon at Southern Boll, and he had asked if we had any surplus that we might be interested in trading. He wasn't supposed to come for another sevenday, but he's showed up early." She was excited and grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly and bouncing in place. "He, the holder, is offering us marks for some of the herdbeasts. Real marks! Not seed, or a trade, but marks! And gems too!"

"And he is related to the holder from the gather?" The only holder who had talked to Bayhon that day, at least according to Selema, was the man who had been in Kai's traveling party. Knowing what he did now, the brownrider had a feeling that all of the men in that group were renegade dragonriders – which meant that the man sitting in his sister's kitchen was probably one of them as well.

"That's what he claims." Sakina noticed her brother's serious expression and frowned. "N'kar, what is it?"

"Nothing." He dropped her hands and leaned back against Elanth. _Can you sense any other dragons about?_

 _There is something, I do not know what it is though._ The brown shook his head back and forth, his eyes whirling in bright oranges and yellows. _I can hear it, but I can't understand it. Why can't I understand it?_

 _Strange._ N'kar was torn between going with Elanth to find this thing, and staying to meet this man his family thought so highly of. If the presence turned out to be a dragon, trapping the dragon might be a way to drag out the rider. However, what if they tried to fight? He didn't want to see Elanth attacking another dragon, even if it was a renegade. No, it would be best to talk to the man first and decide what to do from there.

He rubbed the brown's shoulder.

Sakina was watching him with worried eyes. "N'kar?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure everything is fine?"

"Yes." She flinched at his sharp tone, and he sighed. He draped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry. Please tell me more about this holder; is he from Tillek? High Reaches?"

"He's from another hold here in Boll. He hasn't told us where though." N'kar quirked his eyebrow at that and Sakina quickly started to defend the holder again. "He's not refusing to tell us; it's just never come up in conversation, y'know? Selema was worried at first - she didn't want to barter with him if he wouldn't tell us the hold he's from - but Bayhon doesn't think it's a problem since he's paying us in marks. And those gems, N’kar! You should see how they sparkle."

Good old Selema! At least someone in the family still had sense! "Are the marks good?"

"Why wouldn't they be?"

"Marks can be counterfeited." Granted it was rare, which was surprising considering how easy counterfeiting would be since marks were just a sliver of wood. "Or they could be stolen."

"Bayhon believes they're good. Besides Nirybel would never do that."

"How do you know? You've only just met him a few sevendays ago."

His sister pushed away from him and glared up at him with her arms crossed over her chest. "I trust my instincts, and they tell me that he's a good man."

"Are these the same instincts that got you lost in the Weyr that one day coming back from your Harper lessons?" N'kar quirked an eyebrow at her and she blushed. "He may be a good man, but he still could be lying for all you know."

"Like that runner?"

"What does she have to do with this?"

"She was lying, and you knew it and you still trusted her."

N'kar froze; it was a bit strange that Sakina would bring that up now. Did she know that he had seen Kai since the gather? But there was no way for her to find out about that. "She was hiding something. Not lying."

"Same difference."

"Regardless of if she was or not, she's not in a position to hurt this hold – that man in the kitchen is." She didn't respond, just continued to glare at him and N'kar ran a hand through his hair in irritation. He had forgotten how stubborn she could be when she put her mind to it, and was growing rapidly tired of their argument. Why did all the women in his life have to be so vexing? Why couldn't they be nice and docile like typical holder girls were supposed to be? His stomach began to grumble and it occurred to him that he hadn't eaten since dawn, Benden time. "Am I allowed to grab a meatroll or two? Or have I been banished from the hold completely?"

"No, no, no, of course not – but maybe it would be best if you stayed out here. I don't think Bayhon will appreciate his bartering with Nirybel being interrupted."

"If they're still in the kitchen then Bayhon's an even greater fool than I thought." Their mother was probably talking the prospective trader's ear off right now, and his brother in law might actually welcome their interruption. The brownrider started to walk up to the hold and Sakina hurried to catch up with him - trying to stop him by jumping in front of him and promising that she could get the meatrolls and bring out Selema and their mother to say goodbye. While he was just able to step around her and continue on, it occurred to N'kar that having someone do that to you was actually very annoying. No wonder Kai had been in such a foul mood that day.

Soon the Beast Hold doors were in sight. N'kar paused once he was inside. He had never been inside the hold before and was unsure which way to go. He heard laughter and the murmur of voices drifting down the corridor he assumed led to the kitchen. He turned to head down it, only to find Sakina blocking his path with her hands on her hips. He sized her up, wondering how he could get her to step aside, and quickly realized that she was shorter than Kai by nearly a foot. If he had been able to throw the runner in the toss dance, then moving his sister out of the way would be no problem at all. Sakina opened her mouth – about to start in on something again – but was interrupted before she could speak a word; "What is going on here?"

Both N'kar and Sakina looked over to find Selema standing just a few feet away, her expression both amused and furious at the same time. It was a look N'kar had seen on his Mother once or twice when he was younger, and come to think of it, Weyrwoman Lessa when he had been sent off to face her as a weyrling when the Weyrlingmaster couldn't think of any more punishments. Malena had also recently mastered it. Maybe there was some secret training that women got after a certain age.

"Oh, we were just having a foot race. I won, but you know how Sakina's a sore loser." He got an elbow to the ribs in response to his lie.

"Sakina! Such behaviour! And when Nirybel is here too!" Selema shook a finger at the girl, chiding her – yet another artform the Brownrider was sure that women learned only when they had the responsibility of a hold, Weyr, or children thrust on them. "I would expect more maturity from a girl your age."

"I didn't do anything! He was the one who was going to interrupt Bayhon and Nirybel!"

"All I wanted was a meatroll and to say goodbye to my dear mother and sister before I left." Selema raised an eyebrow at that and N'kar cursed silently. Now she knew he was up to something like Sakina was claiming. Maybe using 'dear' in the same sentence as 'mother' had been a bit over the top. However, instead of scolding him as well, Selema just shook her head and smiled.

"You're in luck; Mother just put a batch of meatrolls in the ovens while you all were out in the fields." Sakina stepped out of the way as she approached, and N'kar followed her quickly before the younger girl tried to block the passageway again.

Inside the kitchen, the holds lone drudge was setting the table with a midday meal. It was coarse fair; tubers and cheese, the meatrolls Selema had promised him, and a chilled pitcher of some fruit cider. His mother sat at the end of the table next to a strange man, talking his ear off like N'kar had known she would, while Bayhon tried to interrupt every other sentence, only to fail miserably at separating his guest from his in law.

The man, whom N'kar could only assume was Nirybel, looked to be about F'lar's age. His hair was blonde though, where the Weyrleader's was black, and his eyes were a piercing blue instead of molten amber. His nose was a bit on the big side, crooked, like it had been broken once or twice, and his cheeks were scarred heavily with a smattering of burns. The brownrider wasn't sure if that was because maybe the man had been a smith at one time, or if the scars were from thread ash. He was more inclined to believe the later; while the man was tall and in decent shape for his age, he didn't have the bulky arms of a smith.

 _Can you still not sense anything?_ He queried Elanth again.

 _It is louder now, clearer, but still strange..._ The dragon sighed.

_I know it is hard, but try to speak to it._

The strange man seemed to sense something and looked straight at him at the same time Elanth said, _It replied! At least I think it replied. I still do not understand it, but it said something after I tried to talk to it._

Interesting. Maybe his earlier assumptions had been right then and Nirybel was linked to the presence Elanth had detected earlier.

N'kar's mother followed the man's gaze and smiled at her son, "There you are! I was just telling Nirybel about you."

"So this is your son the Wingsecond then?"

There was something about the way that he emphasized his rank that set N’kar’s teeth on edge. "Brownrider N'kar of Benden Weyr."

"Holder Nirybel." Nirybel nodded a greeting.

"Really? Of which hold?" The words were out of N'kar's mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

"We... haven't settled on a name yet. I felt that it was more important to have a safe place for my people to sleep than to worry about a silly name."

"But you had told me that your family hold had been around for generations." Bayhon looked confused and Selema frowned.

"It has, it has. I've only recently set out on my own though." The older man gave him a reassuring smile. "Not to worry friend, my hold may still be new but our marks are still good and there are plenty of them."

"I wasn't aware that Southern Boll had given permission for a new hold to open up." N'kar continued before Bayhon had a chance to say anything. In fact, he wasn't aware of there being any open land on the Northern Continent at all.

"The last time I checked, Southern Boll was under Fort Weyr's jurisdiction – not Benden's."

"True, but it's always good to know what holds are out there, just in case one might be transferred."

"Yes, of course. Y'know, I've never had a chance to talk to a dragonrider - I always imagined that you all would be too busy fighting thread to drop in on your family like this – do you manage to visit often?"

"Not as much as I would like." N'kar admitted and the other man's expression turned triumphant – only to falter as soon as the brownrider continued. "I have friends who are riders for Fort though. They keep an eye on things for me when they ride watch."

"I see." He drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

"So how is your daughter doing?" Sakina interrupted. She slipped around N'kar and sat down on Nirybel's right hand side, giving him a sweet smile and batting her eyes. N'kar frowned, what in Faranth's name was she doing flirting with such an old man? Thankfully he seemed oblivious to her attentions.

She is thinking that even if he is old, he has his own hold and is not too bad of a catch.

N'kar frowned. He would rather see his sister end up with someone her own age – and preferably not a renegade rider. Of course, she would never listen to his warnings after earlier, and even if she did, he had no proof except for the fact that Nirybel had seemed to sense when Elanth had tried to make contact with what they assumed was the man's dragon.

How, by Faranth, was he going to proceed from here? Call in reinforcements? He hadn't told anyone else about what the firelizard had shown Elanth. However, the only way he could see this being resolved was if he had help from the Weyr. With more dragons they could easily corner the presence in the woods and subdue it and more riders would help restrain the man at the table. He sighed - R'nahl would not be happy that he had held out him, but it was better late than never.

The dragonrider reached out to his brown to have him relay a message to Xanth, but before he could put his request together the brown interrupted him; _Listen!_

"Oh, she's fine. She hasn't had a headache in quite a while now... and you can barely see the bruises on her arms anymore."

"She's such a brave girl to defend her hold like that."

Bruises? Arms? N'kar's thoughts immediately jumped to Kai. It had occurred to him that the 'holder' might know of the runner, especially if he was ‘related’ to the holder he saw her at the gather with, but he hadn't really believed that he would be that lucky. He knew he should still have Elanth call for R'nahl, but maybe there was still a way for him to reach her, to get her someplace safe, before news of the hidden weyr got out. How to get the renegade to deliver a message to her though?

_I do not think he would give her any message for you, but maybe if you mentioned her, he would tell her that he has seen you?_

_I don't want to get her in trouble. What if this is the same man who gave her the bruises in the first place?_

_I do not think the man will hurt her. I do not think he has ever hurt her. Why would he use her as a part of his cover if he had?_

_Bad men do weird things sometimes._

_I am glad that you are not a bad man._

_I could never be a bad man with a dragon like you._ N'kar gave a mental sigh, his dragon was too smart for his own good sometimes. _Alright, oh smart one, what do we do about R'nahl and the Weyrleaders then? Not calling them in now will only delay the scolding we are going to get later._

_I would rather have to fly watches in Igen later, than fight against another dragon. And if we get the girl, she could help us when we talk to the Weyrleaders. Then you can fly her, as I will fly the big green, and she will forget about any trouble you may have gotten her into._

_I doubt it will work like that._

_Why not?_

_Girls are not like Greens, and do not forget things so easily._  Despite the tension of the situation, the dragonman chuckled to himself, earning another glare from Sakina. He just shook his head in response. "I'm sorry, Elanth said something funny."

His sister rolled her eyes. "Weren't you going to just get some meatrolls and go?"

"I was and I will." He glanced at the 'holder' sitting next to her. "This girl who has these bruises – is she about so tall..." He marked off a distance from the floor with his hand that was about Kai's height. "Brown hair? Brown eyes?"

Nirybel tensed. "Yes. Why? We didn't report the loss to anyone – so there is no way a dragonrider would know of it – unless you would were involved somehow."

All eyes landed on N'kar. His family knew he would not steal from a holder – why would he when the Weyrs were well supplied by tithes? - but with an insult so obvious, they expected the brownrider to take offense and demand satisfaction like any normal man would. He gave the other man a cold smile instead. "There was a runner I ran into at a gather not too long ago. Pretty girl by the name of Kai. She had bruises like what you described."

"That would be my girl alright." The man said from behind clenched teeth. A tick had started to twitch on his scarred cheek.

"I wouldn't expect that a loving father such as yourself would send his daughter on a run like that when she was so badly injured."

He was fast to recover. "I didn't send her. I was going to send one of the other boys, but she decided to go before I could stop her."

"Ah. Well she does seem like the headstrong type."

"Yes. A very stubborn girl. You have no idea the amount of sleep I lose over some of the stuff she pulls."

N'kar laughed, remembering the restless nights he had lost since meeting Kai. "Oh, I don't doubt it. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Nirybel, I must be on my way now."

"But what about those meatrolls you wanted?" Sakina was glaring again. At this rate her face would freeze with that pouty look on it.

"Oh, I'll just get something back at the Weyr." He stepped around the table to give his mother a quick peck on the cheek. "It was good to see you again. Until later." Then he nodded at his sisters and Bayhon and strode from the room. As soon as he was out of sight and hearing range of the others, he dropped into a run that carried him all the way through the entrance of the hold and to where Elanth was waiting for him. He jumped up the brown dragon's shoulder and directed him to take off, asking him to hover just behind the hold out of sight of the entrance.

A few minutes later the figure of Nirybel came striding out of the hold doors, Bayhon following closely behind him. Even though N'kar was too far away to hear what the holder was saying, his arms were waving around agitatedly. The other holder just ignored him and continued walking. Eventually Bayhon gave up, stopped, and stood there watching as the older man's figure disappeared down the road.

 _Should we follow?_ Elanth twisted his head around to gaze at his rider.

 _No._ Hovering was one thing. Following Nirybel discreetly would be almost impossible on a brown the size of his dragon.

_We could ask Rhemyth. She is small._

_They are on patrol today. Besides, he will not leave immediately; he will probably wait until darkness until he does. I don't think you want to spend the rest of your day and night hovering do you?_

The dragon grumbled that no, he would not – he preferred a bath and a wherry for dinner instead.

  
Below, Selema and Sakina had come outside, and where having a conference with Bayhon in the yard. Slowly, Selema guided her dejected husband back inside. N'kar sighed to himself, he hated to be the reason that the hold’s deal had gone bad, but he reassured himself silently that they already did well enough without trading. He slapped his dragon's neck and gave him the coordinates for home, missing the scowl his youngest sister gave him from the ground and the look from where Nirybel watched farther on down the road.


	12. Chapter 12

R'nahl was not in his weyr when N'kar returned to Benden. Instead of taking his rider directly to where the wingleader was, like N'kar had asked, Elanth elected to land in front of the entrance to the dining cavern instead. _You are hungry, you must eat._  

 _I am fine,_ The brownrider could easily ignore the grumbling sounds his stomach was making for a while longer. _Take me to R'nahl, please._

The dragon gave himself a strong shake. It was forceful enough to cause his rider to lose his grip on the riding straps and slide halfway off  his neck, but not so violent that he fell to the ground. N'kar hung there for a moment,  feeling royally embarrassed that he had not been able to hold on when he had been able to handle some of the maneuvers the brown pulled during threadfall with much more grace. Elanth turned his head around to stare at his rider with one whirling eye. _It will not do if you pass out in front of the Weyrleaders because you are hungry._

 _And why do you think they will be involved in this?_ N'kar asked and then corrected himself. Of course they would be involved, on top of the whole other Weyr issue, he had sharded up things badly by not coming forward with his information sooner.

_Eat._

_Alright! Alright!_ N'kar dismounted the rest of the way and gave the brown an affectionate slap on the leg. _I'll eat._  

Elanth snorted at him, but took off to his weyr ledge, showering his rider with sand as he left him standing alone in the weyrbowl. N'kar watched him for a moment, then turned towards the dining cavern. The smells drifting from the kitchen were tantalizing, making his mouth water in anticipation. He didn't get far though - R'nahl was waiting for him at the entrance to the lower caverns with an agitated look on his face. He handed the brownrider a rolled up scroll that he had been tapping against his thigh. "Care to tell me what the meaning of this is?"  

N'kar frowned to himself; was it from Kai? Had the renegade already returned to whatever Weyr he had come from and had told her about what happened? Was she in trouble? Or angry? But her firelizard knew what he looked like, and would have come straight to him, not R'nahl, if that were the case... or so he hoped. He opened the scroll and promptly relaxed a little when he recognized Sakina's handwriting. His jaw dropped in surprise though when he saw what she had written. "She is accusing me of interfering with their hold."

"Specifically of chasing off a trader who had made an agreement with Holder Bayhon." R'nahl was still frowning.    "I thought you were just going to assist with recovering some lost herdbeasts?" 

"I was and I did." N'kar crumpled the paper in his hand, then promptly smoothed it out again; while paper was more plentiful nowadays it was still too precious to waste. "I was planning to stay around for lunch afterwards, but a holder had shown up while we were gone..." 

"And did you interfere?" R'nahl interrupted. Before his wingsecond could say anything else he quickly continued, "By Faranth! Have you gone mad, man?" 

“I didn’t chase anyone away.” N'kar grabbed his fellow dragonrider's arm and pulled him away from the entrance of the lower caverns. R'nahl jerked away, but followed him to one of the nearby ground level weyrs that was kept open for injured dragons. "Look, I just wanted to make sure my family was safe - especially since Sakina seemed interested in him - so I asked the man some questions." 

The wingleader's expression softened a little at that. "We all want to keep our families safe, but your duty is to this Weyr and all of Pern first - and this... this could cause so many problems especially as Bayhon's hold is outside of our jurisdiction. If the weyrleaders or the lord holders find out..." 

"I believe the man may have been a dragonrider." 

"What?"  

"Remember when I ran into Kai at the gather?” 

"She would figure into this somehow." R'nahl growled.

N'kar ignored that and continued, “She was acting strange-”

“That’s nothing new.”

“Fine. She was stranger than normal at least. I tried to get her to let me take her back to her hold, but she refused, so I asked her to send her firelizard to me to let me know she had gotten home instead. I figured if she kept her word, I could have Elanth get a picture off of him that I could use to go between on. Surprisingly, she kept her promise; her blue showed up in my weyr that night and I asked Elanth to find out where they came from. He showed him this island Weyr..." 

His wingleader froze. "Ista?" 

"Ista isn't on the beach like this one was." 

"And you didn't tell me about this sooner because?” R'nahl drawled out the last word. 

"Unfortunately, the image wasn't clear like I thought it would be, so I couldn't get any good coordinates off of it.”  

"And I imagine that damn runner probably had something to do with that, too."

“Or it could just be her firelizard being, well, a firelizard.”

The wingleader shook his head, but in the dimming light it was hard for N'kar to tell if it was because he was frustrated or resigned. “You should have told me from the beginning!”

“I know!”

“Then why didn't you? I realize that we’ve been friends since our dragons eggs cracked, but that doesn’t give you the right to take liberties like this...”

“That is not the situation at all...”

“Then what is the situation, N'kar?” R'nahl slapped a hand against the rock wall. “Did you get hit by a firestone sack during the last fall and somehow addle your brains? Or are you just so desperate that you'll do anything for a piece of that runners ass?”

N'kar had to wrap his hands around his belt to keep himself from taking a swing at the other man. He took a deep breath and let it go slowly. “My feelings for her have nothing to do with this.”

“Obviously they do or you would have told me sooner. As I mentioned earlier, brownrider, your duties to this Weyr and Pern come before any other relationships... familial or otherwise. You were made aware of a situation where a renegade rider has been taking advantage of holders, endangering our position. You had information regarding this and failed to mention it so that we could take the necessary steps to stop this man. I should demote you for insubordination.” He drummed his fingers against the wall. “However, V'lin is still too young, and D'rean... is... well, D'rean... and despite your idiotic actions as of late, you're the only one I trust enough to be my wingsecond, so I won't.”

“Thank you, Wingleader.”

“That doesn't mean you're safe from punishment though. I expect you to help the weyrlings get the firestone sacks ready on top of your other prefall duties for the next fortnight. You'll also take any late watch rides our wing is assigned for that period of time as well, and no gathers for at least a month.”

“Yes sir.” Better to pack firestone than clean latrines.

“Now, back to today, how did you figure that this trader was another rider?”

"According to Sakina he had heard of their hold from his brother who had talked to Bayhon back at the Southern Boll gather. The only man I remember talking to Bayhon was one of Kai's traveling companions - since she is from this renegade weyr, then I felt it was safe to assume that her friends and this man must be associated with it as well. So I had Elanth see if he could sense something... he picked up on another dragon in the area, but he couldn't understand it."

"That's not possible; Dragons are always aware of each other."

"Are they?" N'kar let go of his belt and crossed his arms over his chest. "If our dragons were able to sense other dragons then why didn't we learn about this Weyr sooner? Our dragons would have keened the minute one of theirs passed away, but they haven't. The only dragons and riders we've mourned have been ones from Weyrs we are familiar with. What if dragons are only able to talk to other dragons they know about because they've either seen the dragon, or we tell them the dragon is there? Much like they only know how to go between because we show them where to go to or because it's a place we've shown them."

"This still doesn't explain how Elanth wasn't able to understand the other dragon though."

"Didn't Avias say that there had been a shift in our language since the settlers first landed? Maybe this is the same sort of thing."

"Then how are you able to communicate with Kai, or this 'trader'?"

"I don’t know. Maybe they were raised on the mainland so she would know our dialect." The bronzerider gave him a skeptical look. N'kar shrugged in response. "It's just a theory. There could be something completely different going on for all we know."

R'nahl sighed, "I don't suppose you happen to stay long enough to confirm that the man was a dragonrider visually?"

"No. I didn't think he would go immediately back to his dragon, and, if he did, I didn't want to be in danger of having a dragon on dragon fight."

"You could have called for back up."

"I could have, but would the man have actually talked if we had questioned him? Or what if we did manage to get at least his dragon to cooperate? What would we have done then? We can't just randomly show up at this other Weyr without some sort of a plan."

"What do you propose we do then?"

"I don't know." N'kar ran a hand through his hair, knowing that R'nahl would not like the suggestion he was about to make. "I had thought, that maybe Kai might be working with the renegades against her will..."

"If she had been then why didn't she try to escape? She had the opportunity to at Bitra." 

"Fear." He suggested, remembering the violent bruises marring her arms. “Or maybe she’s even a dragonrider herself.”

"What a mess." The bronzerider sighed. "Let's go see the Weyrleaders. We need to tell them what you've learned."


	13. Chapter 13

The Weyrleaders quarters were situated next to the Hatching Grounds - just a short walk away from the Lower Caverns.

Every step that brought them closer to where Ramoth sunned on her ledge felt like N’kar was taking one step closer to his doom. He blamed the sensation on his weyrling years, when, once or twice, he had been dragged before the Weyrleaders for this or that prank gone wrong - pranks that were usually R’nahl’s idea. At the time he had thought that F’nor, the Weyrlingmaster, was the scariest thing when he was angry, but had quickly learned that Lessa’s fury was ten times worse. N’kar had avoided the Weyrwoman whenever possible ever since.

R’nahl slowed down so that he fell into step next to N’kar. “The faster we get there, the quicker this will be over with.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I may want to throttle you right now, but I’m not going to throw you to the wherries. The punishment has been dealt. There’s no need for the Weyrleaders to get involved with that side of things. We’ll just tell them what they need to know, and won’t mention when you discovered this or how long it took you to tell me about it.” 

“How are you not terrified of her?”

“Oh, I am.”

“That’s not exactly reassuring.” N’kar smiled to himself at the absurdity of the situation; here were two dragonmen, who fought thread on a regular basis, shivering in their boots because of one tiny Weyrwoman. 

They took the steps to Lessa’s weyr two at a time, nodding at Benden’s great golden queen as they passed her. “Xanth says that Ramoth says that the Weyrleaders are in the council room.” The bronzerider frowned. “Xanth says they have company.”

For a split second, N’kar worried that the renegade rider had followed him back to the Weyr. However, no strange dragons had been spotted in the sky over Benden, and why would the renegade turn himself in anyways? He doubted that his contact with the rider earlier had been enough to scare that Weyr straight. If anything it had probably scared the renegades back into hiding. 

The man sitting at the massive table was just a holder though, not another dragonrider. He glanced up at their entrance and smiled as he recognized the bronzerider. “R’nahl! 

“Weyrwoman Lessa, F’lar,” The Bronzerider nodded at the Weyrleaders first and then turned his attention to the holder. “Holder Preben, what a pleasant surprise. Welcome to the Weyr.”

“I trust you’re treating my cousins well?”

“They’re doing well, Preben. Ginaera has taken to weyrlife quite well and Malena is...”

“Malena.” The holder finished, a rueful smile on his lips.

“I trust there is a reason for this interruption, Wingleader?” Lessa was frowning at them. 

“Yes, we had some news regarding the recent... issues... you asked us to keep an ear out for, but if this is a bad time...” Even though he knew the other man, R’nahl was clearly caught off guard by such a small holder having an audience with two of the most important people on Pern and was unsure if he should mention the thefts in front of him. 

“Actually, Holder Preben was just discussing that problem with us.” F’lar spoke up, sounding oddly exhausted. N’kar was surprised by the bronzerider’s expression. For the first time he noticed the grey touching the man’s hair and the lines in his face. When had the Benden Weyrleader’s become old? He reminded himself that the man had been fighting Thread for the past 30 years of his life, and that he would be lucky if he survived that long. “What have you learned?”

“The raiding is being done by renegade dragonriders like we believed, however, they aren’t from one of our Weyrs.”

“We are aware of that.”

“... You are, sir?”

“Yes. Malena’s father, Deln, has been... unwell for several months now. I’ve been running Blue Vale in his stead.” Preben explained, encouraged by Lessa’s reassuring nod. “Deln has always kept meticulous records of everything that happens at the Hold. There are scrolls upon scrolls regarding this field being planted, the weather that day, who was sick, and so on. When going through them to get an idea of what we might plant this year, since the weather is a bit wetter than normal, I noticed that there are mentions of a bronzerider visiting him. Apparently this dragonman visited him multiple times over a span of ten turns, and even some trade occuring between our hold and his Weyr. But Deln never noted what Weyr he was from and I’m not familiar with his name. So I flagged down the sweeprider today to see if he might know who this N’bel was, and here I am.”

“N’bel?” All eyes turned to N’kar. He frowned; he hadn’t realized that he had spoken out loud.

“Do you know him?”

“There was a holder visiting my brother in law today by the name of Nirybel.”

“Oh?”

“He got that look in his eyes once or twice - you know the one we all get - and he had some suspicious scars on his face that looked like threadscores.”

Lessa glanced at F’lar. “Nirybel could be shortened to N’bel.”

The Weyrleader nodded. “It could. Did Elanth sense another dragon in the area?”

The brownrider didn’t feel comfortable bringing up the other dragon in front of the holder but both Weyrleaders were looking at him expectantly. “He said he could sense something, but he couldn’t understand it.” 

“That’s impossible!”

“That’s what I said.” R’nahl nodded at N’kar. “We have some theories about that, but they’ll probably bore Preben to death. There’s more to the story though.”

“There’s a girl, a runner, that I met recently.” N’kar explained, continuing where R’nahl had left off. “She’s odd, but nice enough. I was concerned for her safety so I asked her to send her firelizard to me and let me know that she arrived at her destination safely. Out of curiosity, I asked Elanth to ask the firelizard where he was from. He showed Elanth a picture of a Weyr that neither of us recognized.”

“When none of the other Weyrleaders knew of a N’bel, I assumed that there must be another Weyr out there that we didn’t know about. But where, and why?” F’lar’s amber eyes flashed brightly. N’kar believed that he must be remembering the dark days when the current pass first started and before the Oldtimers came forward. An extra Weyr would have been greatly appreciated during that time.

“The Weyr the firelizard showed Elanth was on an island, but that was the most I could make out. It wasn’t enough to go between on.”

“We could question this runner, she may know more about this Weyr and may be able to give us better coordinates.”

“Finding her again has proven to be nearly impossible, Weyrwoman. None of the other Runners that I’ve encountered recognize her.”

“Since this girl is our only link to this renegade Weyr, we need to question her. As much as I detest the creatures, perhaps you could borrow one of your wingmate’s firelizards and have it seek the girl out.”

“Most of my other riders only have blues or greens; they’re not very reliable for sending messages.” R’nahl spoke up.

“Doesn’t Malena have a queen firelizard? Or did it run off when she impressed?” Preben asked, looking between the Weyrleaders and R’nahl.

“No, she still has it.” R’nahl nodded. “That could work.”

“Well, then I suggest you ask her if you can use her firelizard. Let her know that it’s for Weyr business.” Lessa stood.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Are you hungry, Preben? They should be almost ready to serve dinner in the lower caverns.”

“I would be honored, Weyrwoman, but I must get back to the hold. They’ll be wondering where I disappeared to.”

“The watch rider who brought you here should be waiting out in the bowl to take you back.” Lessa retreated into her private chambers. Sensing that they had been dismissed, N’kar and R’nahl followed F’lar and the holder out onto the weyr ledge. Surprisingly, Preben did not falter like most non riders did when he saw Ramoth sunning, however he walked down the steps a bit faster than what would be considered normal. N’kar couldn’t help but smile to himself; Benden’s queen had that effect sometimes.

A thought occurred to the brownrider, and he put a hand on the green weyrling’s shoulder down before the dragon could whisk Preben away. “A quick question for you - you mentioned that Deln had documented this bronzerider visiting him. Did he ever note what their conversations were about?”

“Yes, he did, I don’t remember exactly what they discussed, but it usually had something to do with a girl by the name of Kayta.”

“Is she still at Blue Vale? Maybe she might know more about this N’bel.”

“No,” Preben shook his head. “She died 7 or 8 turns ago - she was caught out in that fall that you all rescued Gineara and Malena from.”

“This Kayta, did she happen to be a runner?”

“How did you know that?”

N’kar shrugged, “Just a lucky guess. Safe travels, holder Preben.”

R’nahl waited until the green took off before stepping forward. He narrowed his eyes at his friend. “What are you plotting now?”

“You mentioned once that Malena thought Kai looked like her friend.”

“Right.”

“And the first time I met her she was wearing shoulder knots from blue vale.”

“Go on.”

“What if she is? Kai could be short for Kayta.”

“They’re pronounced differently though.”

“Perhaps there was a misunderstanding when she was rescued or she changed it for some reason.”

“Fair enough.” R’nahl frowned, crossing his arms over his chest.“Whatever the reason, let’s not tell Malena. I don’t want her trying to hunt down this errant runner and scaring our only lead away.”


	14. Chapter 14

Normally Kayta preferred to eat her meals at her weyr or in the records room; it was something that N'bel had decided on when she had first impressed to keep her safe from harm while the Weyrwoman was still alive, and there was still a threat that her dragon could lay another golden egg. Kayta had gone along with it because she didn't like the way the other riders looked at her, or their sneers, or their loud whispers about how dare that piece of runner trash think she could be good enough to their Weyrwoman. After the old queen had passed away, dining alone, with maybe the exception of M’rocav or N’bel for company, had become such a habit that she had continued to avoid the dining cavern unless escorted.

Tonight, though, she felt like the records room walls were closing in on her, and her own weyr offered no relief. It didn't help that she was lonely for human conversation; M’rocav hadn’t stopped by to visit in over a week, and she had not seen N’bel since he had gone to the mainland. There was Deranna, but the old woman was hardly a conversationalist, and Berjoui was too busy. So Kayta found her feet carrying her towards the dining cavern when the meal bell rang, Deranna squeaking out a surprised protest as she passed the older woman while crossing the Weyr bowl.

At first her fellow riders ignored her, the only exceptions being the two bronzeriders who had impressed at Lysith's last hatching. They gaped at her for a moment before one of them seemed to remember his manners and jumped up to pull out her chair for her. The noise of the heavy wood feet scraping against the sand covered floor made the cavern go silent and Kayta looked up to find everyone staring at her.

Personally, Kayta had always felt that she was a decent Weyrwoman; she kept the records up to date to the best of her abilities, and, despite the fact that she had missed the issue with the dwindling supplies, they were in much better shape than the previous two Weyrwomen had kept them. She was present at every wingleader meeting even if Z'char yelled at her over it later, and defended the holders like N'bel had asked her to. But tonight, looking out over the tables, she realized that she had failed somewhere. Doing her job right was not enough – if things were going to change she couldn't continue to hide herself away. She had to give her riders an example, and that would never happen if all she did was talk to the same four people and throw temper tantrums behind closed doors.

A part of her wanted to turn and run back to the safety of her weyr, but she forced herself to sit and act as if this was something she had done every day of her life, and just not during special occasions like hatchings. She smiled up at the young bronzerider, “Thank you...”

_W'fiel, rider of bronze Worth_. Lysith supplied before Kayta could ask.

“...W'fiel. How is Worth doing?”

“Very well, ma'am.” He grinned, “N'bel says he's the biggest bronze the Weyr has ever had.”

“You must be proud.” Ma'am? She wasn't that much older than him! Maybe three or four turns at the most.

_He is nervous. Worth says his rider thinks you are very pretty, and it has occurred to him that he could be Weyrleader someday if Worth catches me._ Lysith snorted to herself, _As if anyone could catch me._

W'fiel continued to babble on about his bronze and Kayta smiled politely as she listened to him. Maybe if Lementh failed to catch Lysith again, having a young bronze like Worth catch her would be a suitable alternative. His rider was easy on the eyes, polite, and seemed to have some initiative. He had to have, or else why had he jumped up to pull out her chair while his friend continued to stare? Especially given how the other riders felt about her.

He is nice, but you will boss him around.

Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

You would get tired of it. Besides, we do not need a Weyrleader. We can lead by ourselves.

I do not think the bronzes would take kindly to you flying thread with them.

The mainlander Queens do it.

But they do not lead threadfall in the same way. And with only one queen dragon in the Weyr there was no need for a queen wing like the Mainlanders had. Not to mention Bronzes were protective of their queen and having her lead threadfall would only cause problems.

The young bronzerider paled a second before Kayta heard the chair next to her be pulled out. She grabbed his arm before he had a chance to run away, forcing him to stay in the seat that he claimed while talking to her, and then turned to face Z’char with the sweetest smile she could muster. “Good evening, Weyrleader.”

“Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence tonight.” His blue eyes were unusually sharp this evening.

She forced herself to relax and let go of W'fiel. She gave him an apologetic smile, knowing that he might have some bruising from her deathgrip tomorrow. He shrugged as if it was nothing and Kayta's opinion of him went up another notch. She would have to bring up his name to the others and let them know that they might have another who was on their side. “This coming from the man who prefers his wine bottle to commanding the wings.”

W’fiel snorted, drawing Z'char’s attention. “Who's this? A new recruit?”

Lysith’s mind was a rolling cloud of black fury. _If he touches you I will kill him._

_You will stay put! You will not do anything!_ Kayta gave the Weyrleader a blank look, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I know about your plot to replace me.”

“And why would I need to plot to do that? Whenever Lysith flies there is always a chance you will get replaced as Weyrleader, Z’char.”

“And yet that hasn’t happened yet.”

“That doesn’t guarantee that it won’t happen someday - when a strong swifter bronze comes along.”

He glanced at W’fiel again as he accepted his trencher of food from one of the drudges and started cutting into the meat. Kayta eyed it, wondering where the cook had managed to find enough wherries to feed the Weyr. “I’m not the only one who can be replaced. There is always a chance that Lysith will lay a golden egg, and once her daughter hatches and Lysith isn’t the only Queen dragon anymore... well... ”

“Well, what?”

“The Weyr is a dangerous place... accidents can happen, especially during threadfall or one of your trips to the Mainland.”

Knowing how her dragon would react to his words, Kayta reached out to the golden queen. The last thing they needed was for her to go out of control, or try to claw her way into the dinning cavern. Lysith’s mind was chaos, nothing but anger and murderous thoughts, and her rider had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping in shock. She gripped the chair arms as she battled wills with Lysith. _Calm down! It’s just words! He hasn’t done anything... He’s not going to do anything. He can’t. He still needs us._

_I WILL KILL HIM!_

_NO HE WON’T! YOU WILL STAY PUT! YOU WILL NOT HARM HIM!!_

“You’re awfully pale - is everything alright?”

“Perfectly fine.” Kayta lied, her mind still reeling. How had he known about the mainland? She and the others had always tried to keep their visits quiet from the rest of the Weyr. But if he knew, then, obviously, they hadn’t done a good enough job. As for that threat... she had heard horror stories from N’bel about other Weyrleaders who had set things up so that their adversaries had disappeared or had been mortally wounded. After the bruises he had given her, she had believed that Z’char had it in him to be that type of Weyrleader, but she had assumed that she was safe since she was a Queenrider. Apparently, she wasn’t. For the first time since coming here she felt afraid; even if M’rocav won the next mating flight, she wouldn’t put it past Z’char to pull something if Lysith laid a queen egg someday. She stamped out that line of thought before it could continue and upset her dragon any further; “It’s a good thing that Lysith and I don’t visit the mainland or fight thread then...”

“... but your friends do.” He gestured at the wherry meat he was eating. “That’s where this came from isn’t it?"

“Of course, sir. The traders from the Mainland finally came through, remember?” W’fiel interrupted with a snort.

His Weyrwoman and Weyrleader ignored him though; both knew that there hadn’t been any wherries with the last shipment. That meant one of their own had to have brought the creatures in somehow, and since the only ones who went to the Mainland, that either knew of, were her friends, it had to have been one of them. Z’char leaned close so that his lips where next to her ear; his whisper making the hair on her neck stand on end. “I would suggest that you keep your pets on short leashes.”

“I have been.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

“Yes.” Kayta whispered back. She met his glare with an arched eyebrow, “As I remember it, you used to visit the Mainland too. Maybe you showed one of your riders how to get there, and he’s the one bringing in the wherries. What do you care as long as your belly is full?”

Z’char growled and pulled back, raising his hand as if to smack her. Outside Lysith roared her defiance, and Kayta braced herself against the chair arms again, refusing to look away from the Weyrleader or let her dragon budge from her wallow. Instead of hitting her though, the Weyrleader lowered his hand and called for wine. A drudge quickly rushed over with a skin, and he tore it from the woman’s hands. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her with him as he stormed out of the dining cavern. Only then was Kayta aware of how the room had gone silent and all eyes were on her again. As she looked around, the other riders looked away.

“Y’know, when I was younger, I used to look up to him. I thought he was the best bronze rider in the Weyr. But he’s crazy, isn’t he?” W’fiel’s expression was awed.

Kayta nodded shakily and pushed her trencher of food in front of him. “Here, I’m not hungry anymore.”

Outside Lysith was still bellowing her anger, and she would not calm down until she could physically inspect her rider to make sure she was okay. The Weyrwoman stood and left the dinning as quickly as she could, hoping that it wouldn’t appear that she was running for her life.


	15. Chapter 15

Calming down Lysith after the confrontation with Z’char took more energy and patience than Kayta had expected. Even though dragons had notoriously short memories and the Weyrleader was ensconced in his weyr again with a skin full of wine, the golden dragon still wanted to knock down his wooden weyr and shred him to pieces. By the time the dragon’s murderous rage had faded, and her eyelids had finally drifted closed, her rider was shaking with exhaustion. Rather than attempt to make it the few steps to her own bed, she decided to curl up in the small hollow the dragon had made with her forearms. While she hated being out in the open, especially with the air in the Weyr ripe with tension, the night was warm, and she knew that the dragon would protect her if anyone tried anything. 

She awoke to someone shaking her roughly, and opened bleary eyes to find N’bel standing over her with a hard look on his face. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” She responded warily, wondering if he was going to explode at her too. “How did the trip go?”

“It was a failure. A complete sharding failure.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be. It’s your fault.” He snapped.

“Excuse me?”

“Is there something that maybe you forgot to tell me before sending me off on that fool’s mission?”

“No...”

“Like maybe the fact that there is a mainlander dragonrider who is infatuated with you?”

“I have no idea what...” Kayta started to rub the sleep out of her eyes and froze. She had been about to reply that she didn’t know any mainlander riders, and then she remembered; N’kar. 

She didn’t need to say anything, N’bel saw the realization dawn on her face. “Shards and shells. Why would you endanger us like that? You know better!”

“It was an accident. I just ran into him at a gather and he helped me...”

“Then how does he know about your bruises? Those happened well after your last gather trip. Or that you’re a stubborn...”

“Alright, so I’ve seen him once since the gather. What does it matter if I’ve seen him one time or fifty? He knows nothing.”

“Is he your lover?”

“What?” Of all the ridiculous things to think just because another person outside the Weyr had seen her bruises.

“Is he your lover? Because if he is, and if he’s the reason why you can’t put your support behind M’rocav and we’re still stuck with that idiot bronzerider, so help me Faranth...” N’bel had a furious look on his face. It was an expression that Kayta had never seen on him before, and it scared her more than any threat Z’char could ever make. She flinched away from him, unconsciously seeking the safety of her dragon, and he stepped backwards as if he had been physically hit. She had never been afraid of him before. Even when he had first brought her here, and she had had every reason to because he refused to let her return to her hold. “I’m sorry...”

Kayta took a breath to calm herself. This was N’bel; he might get angry with her, but he would never hurt her. “It’s all right.”

“No it’s not. That damned Z’char...”

“I’m fine. I’ve just had a bad dream, and I’m not completely awake yet.” She lied. “ Not that it’s any of your business, Weyrlingmaster, but the brownrider... he’s nothing to me.” A small part of her wished that that was different though. It had been nice to have someone who was interested in her well being because they honestly cared and not because she was the Weyrwoman or a part of some grand plan. 

“Is he the reason why you refuse to go to the mainland now?”

“Yes. It seems like every time I go, I run into him.” 

“Even though I am just a lowly Weyrlingmaster,” He gave her a wink, trying to soften the mood and let her know that he wasn’t offended by one of his proteges pulling rank on him all at the same time. “I would suggest that you continue to stay here and leave the mainland trips to someone else. I ran into him at one of the holds you wanted me to visit, and his dragon was able to sense Harnarth.”

“Haven’t their dragons always been able to sense ours? That’s why you always told us to avoid the mainlander riders.”

“We haven’t encountered another mainlander rider in so long that no one has really known. I’ve always wondered if they could, but as far as I know they’ve never felt our dragons dying, nor have we felt theirs die, so I assumed they couldn’t.” 

Kayta frowned to herself; when she was younger, she had thought he had known all the answers. To find out that he didn’t was almost as scary as him yelling at her earlier. She decided to change the subject rather than think about that any longer. “Did you have any luck with the other holders?” 

“No. Most of them had had supplies stolen from them recently - grain, wherries, herdbeasts. The one hold that hasn’t had any issues belonged to the family of that brownrider, and when he showed up, all discussion about trading went up in smoke.”

“Shards.” They were really in a bind now if no one would trade with them, all because of the rogue dragonrider raiding - who happened to be from their Weyr and who probably didn’t even realize he was screwing things up for his fellow riders. “This person who was stealing the supplies, did the holders mention who it was?”

“Rumor amongst the mainlanders is that it’s one of their riders.”

“It isn’t. It’s one of our own.”

“Who?” While he didn’t act surprised, that muscle in his cheek that ticked when he was annoyed had started up.

“I don’t know yet.” Kayta shrugged. “Z’char pointed it out to me last night. The man is not nearly as stupid as we thought...”

“No, he isn’t.” N’bel said, interrupting her. “He may be power hungry, lazy, and a drunk, but he is far from stupid.”

“He knew what we hadn’t gotten any wherries with the last shipment from the mainland. And none of our riders have gone down to Southern recently.” She hated to lie, but she highly doubted that one of the Islanders would have the initiative to go South if they had a sudden craving for wherry. She would have to have Lysith check as soon as the dragon woke up. “I don’t think it’s one of our group...”

“Well it’s not Z’char - he hasn’t gone since that incident with that one lower caverns woman from Benden - and none of his followers are familiar with the coordinates for the Mainland.”

“Shards.” Well, there went that idea. That left M’rocav, N’nyal, or M’taren, and of those three only M’rocav knew how dire their situation was. Had he taken the initiative? She hadn’t seen him about since she had turned away his advances. And here he had been the one yelling at her a few short months ago about how she had endangered the Weyr by running into N’kar. Didn’t he realize that what he was doing was worse? And why hadn’t he told her when she had mentioned the situation with the supplies to him? She had a sudden urge to smack him the next time she saw him. “I’ll have Lysith tell the dragons to stay on the Island, and not to leave without my express permission. And I’ll have her call M’rocav to the records room, I believe he has some explaining to do.”

“I wouldn’t start jumping to conclusions just yet...”

Lysith woke up suddenly, shaking her rider off as she stood and raised her neck, mourning the loss of a dragon with the rest of her Weyr. The keen echoed across the sandy beach that was the weyrbowl, and weaving around it were cries of surprise from riders being startled awake. Kayta stumbled against N’bel as she covered her ears to block out the noise. 

M’taren was gone.


	16. Chapter 16

N’kar had been working on the missive to Kai when the dragons had started keening. It was a sound that no dragonrider never wanted to hear, and his hair stand on end as it reverberated through his weyr. He was afraid to ask who it was and how, but before he had a chance to reach out to the brown the dragon spoke to him. _M’taren, rider of brown Drendenth is gone._

_I don’t recognize the name._  

_He was not one of ours._

_Which Weyr was he from?_

_The island._

The brownrider had felt a small measure of relief at learning that it was not a weyrmate, however, that relief was soon overshadowed by a sense of foreboding. _Do you mean Ista?_

_Her island._ The dragon’s response confirmed his rider’s fears.

Shards and shells; a death from the renegade weyr would make it hard to get in contact with Kai like Weyrwoman Lessa wanted. If the runner was on the Northen Continent somewhere then he imagined that her superiors would probably bring her back to her Weyr for her safety. And once that happened he doubted she would be allowed to leave after tonight. N’kar set his writing stick down on his desk and leaned back in his chair, wondering if there was even a point to continuing the missive.

_The Weyrwoman commanded it, so it must be done._

He sighed; Elanth had a point. One didn’t just turn their back on something that the Weyrwoman asked them to do.

_The Weyrwoman is also requesting that you meet them in her weyr as soon as possible._

Of course. He had expected her to summon him as soon as Elanth mentioned the island, however he did not expect it so soon. He sighed, looking at the little he had written thus far. Abandoning it, he ripped a corner off of the paper and scrawled out a quick message that was even shorter.

Once he was done with that, Elanth carried him down to the Weyrbowl where he found Malena sitting with Gineara in the dining cavern. Both of them were still in shock from the sudden death of a rider. They clutched their mugs of klah and looked around with unfocused eyes as they communicated with and comforted their mourning dragons. He tapped Malena on the shoulder, “Can I borrow your firelizard.”

“Now?!” She gasped. “But a rider just died, N’kar! Can’t it wait?”

“Please? It’s urgent.” Thankfully, due to his timing, Malena was too disturbed over the loss of a dragon and a rider she didn’t know to question his motives. She called her queen firelizard to them, and commanded the tiny creature to listen to the brownrider before quickly becoming lost in her own thoughts again. N’kar bribed the dainty beast into hopping onto his forearm with a bit of meatroll, and carried her out to where Elanth was waiting. He rolled the scrap of paper he had written his message up, and tied it to the firelizard’s forearm with a spare length of twine. _Give her the image, please, my friend._

_She recognizes her._

_Kai?_

_Yes._

N’kar found himself cursing again. That confirmed what they suspected then; Kai really was the missing runner from seven turns ago. He didn’t know why it surprised him - everything he had learned about her lately had indicated that they were one in the same person. He glanced at the dining cavern, hoping that Malena wouldn’t pick the firelizard’s brain later about where he had sent her. The last thing they needed was an angry Queenrider on their hands making an even bigger mess of things. _Tell her to go to Kai please, and not to leave until she gives her a response._

The little queen cocked her head to one side as Elanth relayed his directions, then chirped and dropped off of the brownrider’s forearm, disappearing into _between_.

  


“How is he?” M’rocav was leaning against the wall of N’nyal’s weyr when Kayta stepped outside for breath of air. She blinked, a bit surprised at his appearance - but then both M’taren and N’nyal were in his wing. Of course he would be concerned and involved like any proper wingleader should be.

“Sleeping. Finally.” She had stayed with the greenrider, holding him as he cried over the death of his lover, until he finally fell asleep. She leaned against the wall next to the bronzerider and sighed, her shoulders slumping forward under the weight of the situation.

“Good. Does he have any idea what happened?”

“No, but from what Lysith gathered from the watch dragon, M’taren the Weyr after dinner last night. I’m assuming he went to the mainland and... beyond that I don’t know. I suspect that maybe he just didn’t have his coordinates right, or maybe he was caught or... I just don’t know.”

M’rocav snorted, “M’taren was one of my best riders. He would never get his coordinates wrong... and he knew the Mainland better than I do...”

He probably even knew the Mainland better than I did, Kayta thought remembering the clearing where the brownrider had dropped the holders off. Even with all the experience she had had as Journeyman Runner she hadn’t been aware that that place had existed near Nabol. She sighed. “Do you have any theories about that?”

“I just assumed that maybe he had sweeting that he had met at the gather...”

“I doubt it; he had N’nyal.”

“He was a brownrider...”

“So? They were in love.”

“Maybe it was more one sided than we thought. Browns may fly greens, but their riders rarely seek out the company of other men for anything other than friendship on their own.”

“That is the biggest load of wherry dung that I have ever heard of.”

“You’re hold bred... you wouldn’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t. I was always led to believe that the Weyrs were different about that type of thing. More understanding.”

“We are, but it is still a possibility that maybe, just maybe, M’taren grew bored and either the object of his affection or their family members didn’t agree with the dalliance.”

“You saw them together at the last gather. That didn’t look like they were growing bored with each other at all!” There was a sound from inside the weyr. Kayta tensed, the last thing she wanted was for N’nyal to hear them arguing and assume that M’taren that been unfaithful. She peered around the door into the room inside only to find that he was still asleep on the bed. However, there was a flash of gold as something flew out the window. A firelizard? But no one on the Islands had a gold firelizard that she knew of... shards, hardly anyone actually had a firelizard except for herself and three patient lads from the lower caverns.

M’rocav tugged on her hand, pulling her away from the greenrider’s weyr. “Let’s not argue.”

“No,” She sighed again, “let’s not.” Though, after the events of the night she was so tired any conversation might very well turn into an argument. What she wouldn’t give for some of Berjoui’s magic powder so she could just sleep and forget the past day had happened. She let the bronzerider lead her to the records room, keeping her eyes open for a flick of gold that didn’t belong to her dragon.

 

  
For the second time in as many days, N’kar felt a sense of dread wash over him as he climbed the steps to the Weyrwoman’s weyr. Only this time he was not afraid of losing his position - he was afraid of what he would find waiting for him. After he had sent Malena’s gold to find Kai, he had looked over towards the hatching grounds to see a brown dragon land on Lessa’s weyrledge. Three men had dismounted and then unloaded a bundle from the dragon’s back before being swallowed up by the large dark entrance.

By the time he made it to the ledge, the weyr inside was no longer dark but brightly lit with glows. He was surprised that the Weyrleaders had chosen to gather here instead of in the far more comfortable meeting room just down a short hall to the right, but he soon saw why. They stood in the middle of the weyr with R’nahl, F’nor, the lord of Bitra and two of his men around a rug covered lump.

The lord of Bitra was ranting while the dragonriders ignored him; “... If you had looked into this issue when I told you about it Wingleader, and actually chased the holdless off of my lands like I had asked you to, then maybe we wouldn’t be having this problem right now!”

“Wingleader R’nahl did nothing wrong, Lord Holder,” Lessa interrupted him before he could continue. “He stayed out of holder issues like we have asked all dragonriders to do.”

“Then if you are trying to be so autonomous, why did you have me bring this holdless man here?!”

“Because, if you had noticed, when the man died the dragons keened. They only mourn if they lose one of their own, and dragons will suicide if their riders die, so, therefore, the man was killed must be a rider and not a holder.”

“Why would a dragonrider be stealing grain from my storage silos? Don’t we holders give you enough with our tithes?”

“You do,” F’lar smiled at him, trying to appease the blustery holder and his men. “And what you give us is greatly appreciated, however, it has come to our attention that there may be other dragonriders out there that are not associated with any Weyr, and we believe they may be the force behind all the thefts we have seen recently.”

“Dragonriders not associated with a Weyr?” The Lord Holder was pale, his eyes wide as he tried to process this new tid bit of information. “Why didn’t you inform the Lord holders about this?”

“We only learned of these other riders yesterday, and I’m sure you understand that it does take a little bit of time to get these sort of meetings coordinated.” Which was a lie; if F’lar wanted to, he could have all the craft hall masters and lord holders amassed and packed into the meeting room within a candlemark.

“Ah, Wingsecond N’kar, thank you for joining us.” Lessa finally noticed him standing by the entrance. She motioned for him to come forward. “Since you have had the most interactions with these renegades, we were wondering if you might recognize this man.”

N’kar nodded and joined the circle. He knelt next to the rug, but he hesitated before twitching the carpet aside; what would he see? Would it be Nirybel looking up at him with dead eyes? However the body was too small to be the old man. Was it Kai then? Was she a dragonrider herself? Was that the reason Elanth had said so long ago that it was too late for her? He gave his wingleader a quick glance. As if sensing his worry, the bronze rider shook his head; no, it wasn’t Kai. Feeling a bit better about what he would find, he pulled the carpet covering the body away from it. The face staring up at him was familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it.

“Do you know him? Was he the one you met at your brother’s hold?”

“No,” N’kar shook his head, answering the Weyrwoman’s question. “But I’ve seen him somewhere...” Suddenly he remembered the Southern Boll gather that he had met Kai at. There had been two other men he had noticed that day whose behavior had struck him as odd, though he didn’t think much of it at the time. “He was at Southern Boll, though I don’t know if he was with Kai or not.”

“Kai?”

“The runner I told you about.” R’nahl interrupted. “What happened to him?”

The smaller of the Bitran guards spoke up. “I was leaving Jen’s cothold,” The other guard snickered at that but was quickly silenced with his Lord Holder glared at him.”...when I heard an argument coming from the yard near where the beasts are kept. By the time I called my partner and got over there, this man was lying in the dirt, and there was another standing over him. Then the watchdragon started to keen and the other man ran off.”

“Did you get a good look at his face?”

“No.”

“Probably one of the holdless. I keep telling you that they’re becoming a problem! One that’s only going to get worse once the pass ends!” The Bitran holder took the opportunity to start back on his tangent.

“Excuse me, my lord.” The other guard interrupted, earning himself another dirty look from his Lord Holder. “I didn’t see the man’s face either, but he wasn’t dressed like no holdless. He was wearing wherhide, like a dragonrider.”

F’nor chose then to speak up. “Judging from the wounds I saw, I’d say he was stabbed.”

“If another dragonrider attacked him, then maybe there is some infighting going on between our renegades. Maybe they’ll resolve the problem for us before we have to step in.” R’nahl’s tone was dark and ominous, and N’kar thought his comment was out of line. However, Lessa did nothing to reprimand him aside from smacking him lightly on the shoulder.

The brownrider frowned; he didn’t want to think of Kai being caught in the middle of some sort of coup or war like what he had read about in the AVIAS archives. Hopefully she would be able to get away and meet him, and then they could put a stop to this once and for all.


	17. Chapter 17

Kayta, Weyrwoman, rider of golden Lysith, found herself on the other side of the bed, hiding from, of all things, a firelizard.

But it wasn’t just  _ any _ firelizard that perched on the bedpost. It was  _ her _ firelizard. Malena’s. Now that she was up close she recognized the darker gold hide and the detail in the crest that had been painted on to its chest. Only Malena would sit there for hours in order to get it to look just right. 

For most of the day she had done her duties about the Weyr; checking on Lysith, checking on the riders drunk in the lower caverns, and checking on their limited stock of wine that the riders had almost decimated. She had also broken up one or two drunken squables with the help of M’rocav and N’bel since Z’char was no where to be found. Once that was done she had updated the records regarding M’taren’s death, the fights that had occurred that day, the punishments for the offending riders, and dwindling wine supply. All of this was broken up by the occasional check in on N’nyal to see if he had woken up yet and, once he had woken up, it had taken nearly a candlemark to convince him that he needed to eat and pay attention to his dragon as the pretty little green was almost gray with sorrow. During all of this she had seen intermittent flashes and flickers of gold out of the corner of her eye and would turn only to see the flick of a tail as what she thought was a firelizard jump in between.

Just past noon, she had seen it once again and had followed it out of the records room only to have it disappear on her. But maybe that had been because of the weyrling standing not too far behind her. Said weyrling must have run and told Berjoui about her strange behaviour, because the healer had caught her standing out next to Lysith’s wallow, peering intently up at the tree branches and the roof of her weyr cooing and begging the illusive firelizard to come out from where ever she was hiding. Berjoui immediately forced her to take a nap despite Kayta’s insistence that she was fine.

She must have been more tired than she realized because the last thing she remembered was lying down on her bed while Lysith crooned outside. She had woken up to find that the sun was much lower in the sky than it had originally been and that Dolp was arguing with and being scolded by a queen firelizard.

For a moment she had been relieved; here was proof that she wasn’t going crazy! There really had been a firelizard following her around! But then she had finally recognized the creature and a flood of memories had washed over her; she remembered the day that Deln, Malena’s uncle and Kayta’s foster father, had given them the eggs. He had hoped that it would teach them some sort of responsibility, but, much to his regret, while the two girls took good care of their pets, they continued to skip out on chores and harper lessons whenever possible. She remember how Malena had cried when Deln had apprenticed Kayta out to the runners as a last resort to find some use for the wild girl. Gineara, their friend, had pouted the most though. She had pointed out that at least Malena and Kayta had a way to keep in contact with their firelizards, while she would have to wait for Kayta to visit in order to catch up on this and that boy. Ginaera had been right; Kayta and Malena, ever inseparable as children, had kept in constant contact by firelizard messages until that that one fateful day when thread had fallen and changed everything.

At first Kayta had wondered if her friends had ever made it to safety, but when she finally dared to ask N’bel if he had seen them, the old Weyrleader had told her that it was best to forget about her former life. She was the Weyrwoman now. 

For awhile she had consoled herself with the thought that maybe they had made it to safety; all they had to do was follow the instructions she had given them. If they stayed on the path like she told them to do, they would have found the threadfall shelter in time and it was more than big enough for the both of them. Then she remembered that this was Malena and Ginaera - two holder girls who rarely went outside the hold yard. They would have been scared and confused, and it would have been easy for them to lose the trail. Eventually she had come to the realization that the possibility of them making it to safety in time was a long shot and that they had probably been consumed by thread. By then she had impressed Lysith though, and was unable to cry or even mourn the loss of her friends for fear of disturbing the barely hatched dragon. 

And then she had spotted her friend at the gather with N’kar. She thought the kiss would have been enough to distract the other girl from realizing who she was, but apparently, she had been wrong. Malena had seen, and Malena had sent her firelizard to find her.

Taking a deep breath, the queenrider pulled herself up from where she was hiding and sat on the bed. She called the little gold to her and gently pulled the message scroll from her leg. Surprisingly, the handwriting on the inside of the message was not Malena’s - it was far more masculine. N’kar’s then?

Before she was able to read it though, there was a knock at the door. Kayta frowned to herself; no one, other than her friends and Derana, ever came to see her at her own weyr, and none of them ever knocked. Just to be safe she stuffed the message into a pocket and tossed a sleeping fur over the firelizard. The little queen chirped indigently at the treatment, but soon quieted down when Dolp hissed a warning at her. 

The knocking at the door came again. Kayta smoothed her hair down and strode to the door, opening it to find an older surly faced brownrider glaring at her. W’fiel stood with him and gave her an apologetic smile. “Z’char is asking that everyone come to the dining cavern.”

So the prodigal weyrleader had returned. Kayta sighed, wondering what was so important for him to say to the whole Weyr, and if he would be sober enough to say it correctly. She started to close the door on them, “I’ll be right there.”

“No. He wants everyone there now.” The brownrider barked, throwing out his hand to stop the door and pin it back against the wall. 

Beyond them, Lysith opened an eye that was whirling red and her tail twitched on the sand that covered her bed.  _ I do not like this. _

_ Neither do I my love. Neither do I. _ Kayta admitted. She forced herself to smile for her fellow dragonriders, “Yes of course, lead on.”

The brownrider turned and started to walk towards the lower caverns, but not before giving her a curious look. The Weyrwoman just continued to smile on as if there was nothing strange about Z’char’s request. She looped her arm through W’fiel’s and pulled on him slightly, slowing him down until they were out of the other dragonrider’s hearing. “What is going on?”

“Z’char returned to the Weyr just a candlemark ago and immediately called for this meeting.” The young bronzerider murmured softly. “He’s sober though.”

“That’s a first.”

W’fiel chuckled. “Yes. You would think that Calaranth would look better...”

“Well, even on his worst days, Z’char still managed, somehow, to make sure he was fed and oiled.” Kayta admitted. 

“I’ve never seen a dragon look so gray before.”

“Mmm.” Calaranth was sitting on the ridge above the dining cavern, and just like W’fiel had said, the dragon was more brown than bronze at the moment. “Poor thing.” Even though she hated his rider, she did not want to see the dragon suffer.  _ Lysith? _

_ There is something wrong, but Calaranth will not tell me what. He says he is not allowed to speak to me anymore.  _ The Weyr queen was annoyed. 

Very odd. Kayta let go of W’fiel’s arm as they entered the dining cavern and started to approach the dais. She was waved away by the brownrider. “You’re supposed to stand with the others. Weyrleader’s orders.”

“I am the Weyrwoman.”

“Z’char wants you down there with the rest of the Weyr, girl.”

“How dare...” She wasn’t about to let this lowly brownrider who wasn’t even a wing third tell her, the Weyrwoman, what she could and couldn’t do. His eyes flashed dangerously as she stepped forward, but Katya never knew what he would have done had she finished her threat; someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back amongst the crowd of riders. Panicking, She twisted to find N’bel standing behind her while M’rocav supported N’nyal nearby.

“While I have been always been proud of how loudly you will speak up to defend yourself and others from our idiot Weyrleader... now is probably not the best time.” He gave her a grim smile, only releasing her when she nodded her acquiescence.

“What’s going on?”

The bronzerider shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I was in the middle of teaching some of the weyrlings about wind currents and their effect on threadfall when R’del announced that class was over and told me to get my ass to the dining cavern.” 

“The weyrlings were probably glad for the interruption.” Kayta smiled, trying to make light of the situation despite the impending since of doom that was dancing around at the edge of her mind. R’del was a bronzerider and one of the Wingleaders who supported Z’char, as was the brownrider who had collected her from her weyr. Now that Kayta noticed it, most of the riders surrounding the room were either supporters of, or friends of, the Weyrleader... and quite a few of them were actually surrounding her little group.  _ This is not good. _

_ I already said that. _ Her dragon’s annoyance had turned into anger, but a quiet simmering anger. Her rider was grateful; she didn’t think her ears could handle anymore of Lysith’s bellowing just yet.

Silence fell over the crowd as Z’char entered the dining cavern and stepped up on the dias. “I’m glad everyone could make it.”

“As if we had any choice.” M’rocav murmured quietly. N’bel grunted in agreement. 

“I wish to apologize; I have come to the realization that I have been far too lenient of a Weyrleader and that the behavior of myself and others has lead our Island paradise to ruin.” Z’char continued. “We are running out of supplies, but our own holders are too lazy to provide the support we need to protect them and the Mainlanders who have helped us in the past refuse to help us anymore because it’s too dangerous for them.”

A few of the riders started grumbling to themselves and others. No doubt they agreed with Z’char’s assessment of the holders, but the fact was that there simply wasn’t enough land on any of the islands for any of the holds to grow the crops or feed the animals needed to keep them and the Weyr alive. And why was Z’char bringing all of this up in front of the whole Weyr to begin with? This was an issue for the weyrleaders to worry about and discuss behind closed doors, like she had been trying to do with N’bel and M’rocav for the past month or so. 

“Do you really think he’s going to clean up his act?” M’rocav asked. 

N’bel snorted. “I doubt it. Unless we’ve run out of wine.”

“See our wonderful Weyrwoman Kayta...” Z’char sneered and gestured to where Kayta stood in the crowd. “Has been trying to rectify the situation all by herself. She lacks control though, and one of our riders was slipping away to the Mainland without her knowledge or my permission. I followed him and discovered that he had been raiding the Mainland’s storage and stealing grain and other supplies from them to augment our own. The Mainlanders discovered the thefts and reported them to their own Weyrs - who are now hunting for us at this very moment.

“We all know how we deal with thieves. While M’taren wasn’t stealing from us, his actions endangered our lives. He also went against my direct orders and freed the very holders who tried to attack us - so he was punished.”

N’nyal cried out, his face twisted by grief and fury. He started to rush forward, pulling his dagger from his belt, but M’rocav caught him before he could go very far. The larger bronzerider pinned him against his chest with one arm, and twisted his hand with his other until the belt knife clattered on the ground. After a moment or two the greenrider slumped, his body curling inward on himself as sobs wracked his body. Kayta pulled him into a hug, rubbing his back and humming a low lullaby in an attempt to sooth him. Over his head she glared at Z’char. She would see that he paid for this. Oh yes she would.

“But the riders’ whose instruction he was following, whose own actions have also endangered us by attracting the Mainlanders’ attention in their own way, continue to walk around freely. That ends tonight.” Z’char’s smile turned triumphant. His riders moved forward, surrounding the Weyrwoman and the others. The bronzeriders were quickly restrained, and N’nyal was ripped away from her. Outside their dragons bellowed and roared in protest.

“What are you doing?! I am your weyrwoman!” Kayta shouted as her own hands were pinned behind her back. She struggled against her captor uselessly but he was too strong. Plus, even if she could break free, there were too many riders surrounding them. There was no way to get past them, and she could feel her own dragon’s fury as the queen was held down by the remaining bronzes. 

Z’char’s voice rose above the cacophony in the cavern. “Wingleader M’rocav, Weyrlingmaster N’bel, and Weyrwoman Kayta are from here on out stripped of all rank. M’rocav, N’bel, and N’nyal should consider going between to spare themselves the humiliation of a public trial and execution. Unfortunately we cannot afford to lose our only queen, so Kayta will remain on weyr arrest for now.”

The Weyrleader continued to speak as Kayta was dragged out of the room, but she was too stunned by what had just happened to pay attention to what he was saying. Weyr arrest! Demotion! Suggesting that healthy riders and dragons commit suicide! And he had let, no,  _ ordered _ , dragons to attack dragons, and their riders had forced their bronzes to comply. 

However, even though their riders had been infected by Z’char’s madness, their dragons had not.The few bronzes holding Lysith down were starting to waver under her fury. They couldn’t bring themselves to harm their Queen in any way, so while they held her down they were careful not to scratch her hide in any way. Lysith was not so gentle; the queen bucked and twisted. She snapped and hissed at the riders who waited nearby with ropes to tie her down. 

“Control her!” The man at Kayta’s back hissed in her ear. 

The queenrider had frozen in her tracks, watching the spectacle before her with wide eyes. She should stop Lysith - dragons should never fight against dragons, whatever the reason - but this creature before her would not listen to reason. The queen dragon bellowed her fury again, ignoring her riders pleas, and flung a bronze off of her back. The dragon rolled to a stop just a few feet away from Kayta and the dining cavern, showering them with sand and dirt. The hold on Kayta’s wrists loosened just a bit, just for a moment, while the rider holding her jumped and muttered an oath. Rather than waste the opportunity, Kayta sprang into action; she stopped on the man’s insole, and elbowed him hard in the stomach. He let her go, gasping for air, and Kayta took off at a run towards her dragon. 

_ LYSITH! _ She ducked under the body of one of the bronzes, and twisted to one side to avoid being smashed by his feet.  _ LYSITH! _

The queen finally heard her cry, and the next thing Kayta knew she was being encircled by and then scooped up inside her dragons talons. The  ground spun away from them as Lysith launched herself upwards, away from the sky. Kayta groaned and screwed her eyes shut; it was one thing to ride on a dragon’s neck, safely strapped in, it was quite another to be held by a dragon as it flew. She didn’t like it at all. However there was no time to stop so she could strap herself in properly - the bronzes of the Weyr and even a few of the browns were in close pursuit. 

_ They are getting closer. _ Even though Lysith was still angry, Kayta could feel her exhaustion. The fight  had tired her out, and even though the others had been careful not to injure their Queen she was still bruised and bleeding from her struggle. They needed to go between to some place or time where the others couldn’t follow. Where she could regroup and think of a plan to save her friends and take her Weyr back. 

_ Here. Go here. _ Kayta gave her dragon the coordinates, and then there was nothing but the black emptiness of  _ between _


	18. Chapter 18

When Lysith came out of between, the fact that it was still night confused Kayta. She panicked for a moment, thinking that they were still at the Island, but then the trees with their needle like leaves came into view and she sighed in relief. In her haste to get away, she had forgotten that Nerat was nearly half a world away from the island. Even though the sun had just set on there it was still about a candlemark before dawn here. Just to the right was the clearing that she had pictured for Lysith. It was barely big enough for a brown dragon to fit in, let alone a queen, so Kayta wasn’t sure how they were going to land, but her dragon managed to set down rather gently with a minimum of scratches. Thank Faranth for small things. 

Since the Weyr and the dragons that had been chasing them were out of sight, Lysith was much calmer now, but there was still a tinge of anger to her thoughts.  _ How dare he! You should have let me hurt him! He wouldn’t have dared to take our Weyr then! _

_ Shhh pet _ , Kayta leaned against the golden head, rubbing at her dragon’s eye ridges.  _ It’s over... _

_ No it isn’t over! He has our Weyr! He must die! _

_ He’s a dragonrider, and we can’t kill him even if he was going to kill us. We are better than that. _ . Kayta sighed,  _ But let’s not worry about him right now. For now we’re safe, and that’s all that matters.  _

Lysith merely grumbled in response. However she settled down, lying so that her forearms formed a bit of a cradle for Kayta to curl up in. The queenrider sat down in the hollow, grateful that the dragons neck and wings blocked the slight breeze. It was cold here, colder than the islands ever got, and her clothing was too light and loosely woven to protect her from the elements. She found herself wishing that there had been an opportunity to grab her wherhide jacket and pants or at least some sort of supplies before her hasty departure. Maybe in the morning they could fly to a small hold where some unsuspecting auntie might be doing the laundry. As for food... well there were a few tubers that grew wild around here that were edible, if she remembered her runner training correctly. Fire wouldn’t be too hard to come by, but it would be a pain to start one without a flint of some sort. 

Was it even safe for them to stay here? What if Z’char tried to track them? So far Calaranth and the other bronzes hadn’t appeared in the sky - however that didn’t mean that they were out of danger just yet. 

The queenrider shoved her hands in her pockets as she tried to think about what to do next. Her fingers brushed against a bit of paper buried deep inside one. Right! The message scroll Malena’s firelizard had brought. She pulled it out, squinting to read it in the fading moonlight. 

Kai, I know about the weyr...

She sucked in a sharp breath. How did N’kar know about the Weyr? Could it have been the wherhide pants she was wearing the last time they met? But she had thought she had done an adequate job of explaining those away. Unless... 

When she returned home to the Weyr after bumping into him at Nabol, she had noticed that the shoulder knots she had shoved into her pocket were missing. She had assumed that they were lost at the gather... maybe he had found them? 

A dragon has passed away and I know it’s not one of ours. I want to help. 

Well, help was exactly what she needed right now. A lot of it. An idea came to her, so absurdly simple that she was surprised she hadn’t thought of it before. N’bel would be angry at her for it, but it would be worth it if her plan saved his life. 

Kayta reached out to Dolp with her thoughts, and smiled when he responded by appearing in front of her almost instantly. She didn’t have any treats to give him, so she rewarded him by scratching his head and cooing over him. He was such a loyal friend to stick around her for so long, she told him, and such a brave firelizard to defend her from Z’char when Lysith couldn’t. When he was mollified and his chest was puffed out with pride, she pulled Dolp closer so that they were eye to eye. In her mind she imagined N’kar talking with her, and then pictured the clearing where she was currently sitting only with the sun much higher in the sky. 

When she let Dolp go the firelizard chirped in understanding and then disappeared between. Kayta leaned back and let out a sigh, hoping that her decision was the right one.

 

_ The little one did not keep our secret very well. _ Elanth spoke, stirring N’kar from his sleep. 

“Huh? Whaddyame...” The brownrider’s semi coherent question was cut off as a pail of cold water was dumped over his head. He yelped and escaped the onslaught by jumping out of bed, only to find Malena glaring at him with a wooden bucket dangling from one of her finger tips. “Shards and shells! What is wrong with you?!?” 

“I could ask the same of you!”

“What are you talking about?”

“How dare you use a firelizard to contact a friend of mine without telling me! Didn’t it occur to you that I might want to know that Kayta was still alive? That I might want to see her?”

“We don’t know if Kai is Kayta! It could all be a coincidence.” N’kar spoke at the same time he reached out to Elanth.  _ A little warning before you let a crazy wherry into my weyr would be nice next time. _

_ You told me to wake you up if the little one arrived. She is not a little one. _

“It’s Kayta!” Malena yelled, her voice echoing through the weyr. “Gwen showed me the image you gave her - ”

“Who?”

“My firelizard, you deadglow! The picture of the girl you told her to go to - that’s Kayta! So don’t try to tell me that you don’t know if it’s her or not, because it is!”

“All right. All right. I’m sorry.” N’kar knew that when she and R’nahl had fights, it would go on for days because they were both stubborn people who refused to admit defeat. He hoped that his apology would distract her enough that he could at least pull on some pants. 

His idea worked; whatever Malena was about to yell at him next died on her lips. However, instead of letting him escape she started to bawl instead. The brownrider awkwardly patted her on the back. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“No... it’s... not...” She managed to say in between sniffles. “She was my best friend. We were closer than sisters! I thought she felt the same way, but obviously she’s not the person I thought she was. I mean, if she was alive why didn’t she try to find us?”

“Maybe she couldn’t?” N’kar offered, not really wanting to discuss how Kai was involved with a renegade group of dragonriders. That would not help her calm down at all. “Maybe she didn’t know you were alive?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that you had seen her? Or why didn’t you tell her about me?”

“Malena...” He sighed. 

“R’nahl said you had had suspicions.”

“I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” Her expression started to turn from concerned crying woman to furious wherry again, so he quickly cut her off before she could fling the bucket at him. “You forget, I know what it’s like to lose someone. To go searching only to turn up empty handed.”

“Oh, don’t try to compare Llydwen walking out on you to me thinking a friend was dead!”

“Watch it Malena; regardless of what you thought of her, I did love her and I looked for her whenever I had a chance. With every lead I’d get my hopes up, only to have them smashed when the lead would turn out to be nothing.” 

“I’m sorry.” It was the queenrider’s turn to apologize. She dropped the bucket and sank down to sit on the edge of his bed. N’kar took the opportunity to snag his pants off of the floor and pull them on, and grabbed a cloth from the bathing room to dry his head with. “I didn’t think...”

The brownrider snorted and she gave him a dirty look. He shrugged. “Your own words, not mine. When did Gwen return?”

“Not even a candlemark ago. Her mind... the images she was showing me.. it was chaos. Kayta was being escorted somewhere by dragonriders, and then there were flashes of a crowd, and dragons fighting dragons. She’s in danger, N’kar, but nothing Gwen was showing me was clear enough to go between on and then I just got so mad that you had obviously known all along that she was alive and had done nothing to help her.”

Shards and shells. He hoped that R’nahl’s wish wasn’t coming true. And there was no way to help unless she sent Dolp. “Your friend hasn’t exactly made it easy.”

“She never does when she’s in trouble.” Malena laughed bitterly, wiping the tear stains off her cheeks. “She’ll always try to fix it herself - and usually end up making things worse. She’s caught up in this renegade rider mess isn’t she?”

“How did you know about that?”

She gave him a patronizing look. “I am a Weyrwoman...”

“Junior Weyrwoman.” N’kar corrected.

“... Of course I’m going to hear about things. That, and, after the dragons stopped keening over that mystery dragon yesterday, there were rumors going around about how he wasn’t one of ours. So when Gwen showed me those images, I put two and two together. What is the weyr doing about these riders?”

“It’s none of your business.”

“I have every right to know!”

“No, you don’t; you aren’t the Queen of Benden yet.” He reminded her again. The Weyrleaders had not expressly forbidden anyone at yesterday's meeting from discussing the situation, but if Lessa had wanted Malena to know she would have told her. Not that there was anything to know; she had already figured out the majority of it. 

“But we have to help Kayta!”

So they were back to that again. He sighed, trying to resist the urge to yell at her. His head was starting to pound from being so rudely awoken, and the wine he had indulged in last night wasn’t helping matters either. “I know. I’m trying. But like I said before, your friend hasn’t exactly made it easy. If she will let me, if I can, then I promise you I will do my best to help her.”

“Thank you.” The queenrider nodded. Her eyes were doing that shimmery thing again, like she was going to start crying at any moment, but she lifted her head high and left the room quickly - but not so quickly that it appeared that she was running away. N’kar sighed in relief. 

_ Her Queen is proddy.  _

_ That explains her behaviour. You’d think after six years of being a queenrider that she would be able to control herself better when it’s close to that time though. _ Lessa didn’t act that way when Ramoth was getting ready to rise - but then N’kar didn’t share a bed with her. The brownrider turned back to his bed; it was thoroughly soaked from Malena’s attack so he would have to drag it out onto the weyrledge to dry. Maybe he could convince one of the lower caverns women to take pity on him and loan him some spare sleeping rugs until his sodden ones dried. He went to work folding them up and carried them outside. 

Once the sleeping rugs were spread out he went back in for the mattress. He struggled with getting it off of the bed by himself and into an upright position with out damaging anything - especially his back.

_ We have a visitor. _

Cursing in frustration, he called out. “If that’s you again, Malena, you better come and help me with this since you made this mess in the first place.”

There was no reply, and he didn’t hear any footsteps echoing through Elanth’s weyr. “Hello?”

A blue firelizard popped out of between in front of him. It chirped frantically, trying to land on his shoulders and press his head against his face. 

_ He’s trying to show you something. _

N’kar tried to soothe the firelizard by rubbing at his eyeridges like he often did with Elanth, but it didn’t work; the blue only tried to burrow against him tighter, as if somehow contact would help him get his message across.  _ Try and calm him down please - try to find out what he wants. _

Elanth rumbled from where he lay on his sleeping couch, and, just as he had done before, the firelizard fell silent and went stiff. _Kai received your message._ _He says she is waiting for us at a clearing in Nerat._

_ Let’s go then! _


	19. Chapter 19

Rather than immediately landing in the clearing that the firelizard had showed them, N'kar directed Elanth to fly around it in lazy circles first. He kept an eye out as the dragon did so, looking for anything unusual. It had been over a fortnight since he had last seen Kai; travel by ship from the island and then by runnerbeast to this remote location would have taken the runner months, leaving only one possibility for her to get here so quickly.  _ We should send for back up, we could be walking into a trap. _

_ No, _ Elanth replied,  _ No trap. If there had been any danger I would not have brought you here. And no others; she only wants to talk to you. _

N'kar directed the brown to land. _How_ _ do you know what she wants?  _ When the dragon didn’t respond, he asked again.  _ Elanth, how do you know what she wants? Can she hear dragons like Lessa and Brekke? _

_ No. _

N’kar leaned down over the brown’s neck so he could look at his eyes. They were a whirling dull yellow, but not in fear - in apprehension. He had seen more from the firelizard than what he had let on.  _ Dragon’s aren’t supposed to keep secrets from their riders. _

_ It is not a secret.  _

_ Again, how do you know what she wants? _

_ I am not allowed to say,  _ Elanth crouched low to the ground so N’kar could dismount.  _ But you will see. She will tell you. _

“N’kar?”

He turned to find Kai standing at the edge of the clearing, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. She looked tired; dark circles marred the skin under her eyes, and she seemed to have lost more weight since the last time he had seen her. “Kayta.”

She flinched. “It’s been awhile since anyone from here has called me that.”

“I know.” He paused, unsure of what to say next. There were so many questions that he didn’t know where to begin, and, judging from the silence that settled between them, she didn’t know what to say either. “No more lies, Kayta. Please.”

“No more lies. I’m getting tired of lying and hiding anyways.” The runner stepped out of the treeline and into the clearing, stopping a short distance from N’kar and his dragon. “Is this Elanth?”

“Yes.”

“He’s huge.” Elanth preened at the compliment; puffing out his chest and bumping her gently with his nose. She obliged him by reaching up to give his eyeridge a rub. 

“There are other browns that are bigger. Canth for example.”

“Well, he’s big compared to the...” 

"Dragons at your weyr?" He finished for her. "I know, Kayta."

"I saw." Kai - Kayta, N’kar silently corrected himself - swallowed, her jaw tight. She turned to face him. “We need your help.”

“I gathered as much from the stories I’ve heard of dragons fighting, and you being taken prisoner.” Though why they would want to take her captive was beyond him. She was just a runner. Granted, she was a smart one, but still. Unless... He thought of the shoulder knots he had found at the gather, and the golden gleam he had just spotted deeper in the forest. 

Kayta spoke, interrupting his thoughts. “How did you know about all of that?”

“Malena’s firelizard showed her, and she told me.” No need to mention how Malena had told him, though from the smile on Kayta’s face, it was clear she had an idea. 

“I’m glad she’s alive. I thought... I thought for the longest time that she didn’t make it. And then I saw her that day at the gather and I was so relieved.”

“Then why didn’t you speak to her?”

“I should have, but...” She sighed. “We’re told that if we go near dragonriders, that they might be able to sense us. It’s silly, really, but when you hear it day in and day out...”

“Who told you this?”

“Who do you think?”

“The renegades.” That explained why she had acted so afraid of him at first. She had been afraid that he would find out and punish her. “Kayta, we would never hurt you. I would never hurt you. If you come with me, we can help. We can keep you safe while...”

“While you what? Attack them? No. No more dragons attacking dragons. There are good men and women suffering there because of a madman on a power trip - the last thing we need is to have another batch of dragonriders come in and make things even worse”

“It wouldn’t be like that...”

“How do you know? You’re just a Wingsecond. You don’t get to make the decisions; the Weyrleaders do. Besides even if you do come in with the best intentions, there’s no way to guarantee how the others will act. Especially after everything that has happened.”

N’kar gripped his riding belt. “Then come with me, talk with them, explain to them what is going on so they can help you like they want to... like you’re asking us to.”

“I will. I am. Faranth! I have no other choice.” There was a flash of fear in her eyes, but this time it was real fear - fear for these good people she was talking about. 

N’kar reached out and smoothed her hair with his hand. It was soft, but thick, his fingers easily tangling in its waves and curls. For a moment she leaned into his touch and he remembered how it had felt when she had kissed him. He closed his eyes, fighting the urge to kiss her again. This was neither the time nor the place. Plus did he really want to get involved with another girl who needed rescuing? That was what he had done with Llydwen, and look where that had gotten him. Though, the situation here was far different, the stakes higher, than what had happened with her.

“All right,” He dropped his hand to Kayta's elbow. He pulled her towards Elanth’s shoulder. “Let’s go; you can get some rest, Manora will feed you, you can talk to the Weyrleader’s and we’ll save your friends.”

“No. Not yet.” 

"What do you mean?"

"There's more." 

Kayta attempted to jerk away from N’kar’s grasp, but he was stronger than her. He held her close, pinning her between himself and his dragon.  “What do you mean there's more?"

There was a loud bugle from the trees beyond the clearing. Elanth responded with his own. The runner paled and bolted for the tree line. “Lysith!”  

_ Elanth! What is going on!? _

The brown dragon didn’t respond. Instead he was shouting at whatever was out in the woods.  _ He did not know! We only want to help! You must calm down! He wasn’t about to hurt her! He did not know! _

Shards and shells! N’kar took after the runner, having to jump over rocks and fallen trees as he tried to catch up with her. Even in her exhausted and emotional state she was still faster than him, and he only caught the occasional glimpse of her shirt fluttering behind her as she dodged through the forest. What in the first egg was going on here? First she had begged for his help and now she was running from him? And what had made that bugle? Had one of the renegade riders shown up? If they had why was she running towards it? 

The trees ahead were thinning out. He slowed to a walk, and crouched down behind a fallen log, hiding himself just in case there was a renegade rider nearby. He  peaked over the top of the log, and immediately recognized the clearing that Dolp had pictured. Only now, he saw that a small queen dragon dominated the space. She curled around Kayta protectively as the girl made sushing noises and rubbed her eyeridges. “It’s all right. I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere without you.” 

N’kar stood all the way up, leaning heavily on the log as he tried to process what he was seeing. Kayta and a dragon. A dragon that obviously looked to her.  And it wasn’t  just any dragon - a  _ queen _ dragon. That explained the far away look in her eyes, the wherhide, and the shoulder knots. He groaned, wondering how he had been so blind. “You’re a queenrider?” 

She jumped at the sound of his voice, and the dragon hissed at him. She gave him a sad smile. “Not just a queenrider; I’m the Weyrwoman.”

 

“Where is N’kar?” R’nahl interupted Malena - just as the Jr Weyrwoman had taken a bite of her breakfast. “I hope you didn’t send him off on some errand. He’s on restriction...”

She glared at the handsome bronzerider as she finished chewing; her mother, after all, had trained her that a lady didn’t speak with while she was eating. Then, because she knew it would irk him, she took a sip of her klah, delaying her response even further. Maybe that would teach him not to pester her about  _ his _ wingsecond. 

When he had achieved an interesting shade of red under his tan skin, Malena finally decided to speak; “He was still in his weyr when I spoke to him about the message he had Gwen send to Kayta...”

“He’s not there now.” R’nahl didn’t react to her missing friend’s name or to what basically amounted to her saying ‘I know about your big secret plan, oaf.’ “And Elanth is not responding to Xanth when Xanth tries to bespeak him.”

That explained why he was bothering her then. He wanted her to have Kaelith ask Elanth where Elanth and his rider were. Well, he would have to ask nicely first. Preferably while on his knees kissing her boots. It was only what he deserved for keeping her out of the loop that her friend was still alive - especially when he knew how much she had missed Kayta. Especially when she had confessed to him during a moment of weakness about how she felt guilty for the girl’s death. She took another sip of klah. “Interesting.”

R’nahl growled something under his breath - probably a curse, Malena assumed - and leaned down so that his face was inches away from hers and no one else at the table could overhear him. “Girl, the Weyrleaders are asking for him to be present at a meeting that will be starting any moment now - and considering recent events I do not want to try their patience. If you do not help me find N’kar this instant I will let Lessa know that the delay was all your fault...”

“What delay?” Malena decided to focus on his nose so she wouldn’t be distracted by his looks. “Really, R’nahl, the delay is all yours for dancing around instead of just coming out and saying what you want.”

“Malena...” There was an expression in his eyes that she had never seen before. They were hard as he stared at her, and for a moment, she thought that maybe she had pushed him too far. However, before he could continue or before she could apologize there was a bugle of greeting from the dragon on Watch. She turned and smiled at him, “It appears your wandering Wingsecond has returned.”

He frowned, but didn’t respond to her taunt. Instead he left her sitting at the table as he pushed through the crowd of riders that was beginning to gather at the entrance to the dining cavern. She picked up her breakfast again, intent on resuming where she had left off, but the crowd kept growing. Now even the lower caverns folk were leaving the kitchens to join in, and they were all being so loud.  _ Kaelith, what is going on? _

_ There is another queen here. _

This was a lot of fuss over another Weyrwoman.  _ Is she injured? _

_ No, but she is not a queen we have ever seen before. _

A queen we haven’t seen before... that wasn’t possible... unless it was one of the Renegades N’kar had told her about. She jumped up from her seat, forgetting about her breakfast, and headed for the crowd. Those that saw her shoulder knots parted before her, but others must have been too stunned by what they saw to pay any attention to her requests to move, so she had to push past them. Eventually she was unable to go any further, so she stood on tiptoe and was able to catch a glimpse of a queen dragon that was much much smaller than any queen currently at the Weyr. N’kar and R’nahl stood talking as a woman who couldn’t have been any older than Malena herself rubbed the queen dragon’s eyeridges and looked around the weyrbowl. She stood with her back to the crowd, but there was something familiar about the mass of wavy dark hair hanging down to her waist.  _ Who is she? _

_ We do not know. The little one will not speak to us. _

And then the strange queenrider turned to follow N’kar and R’nahl and Malena gasped; it was Kayta.


	20. Chapter 20

The meeting room at Benden Weyr was packed. Weyrleaders and Weyrwomen from all the Weyrs across Pern sat around the large meeting table, while their most trusted Wingleaders and Wingseconds sat on the bench that ran around the perimeter of the room. Masterhaper Sebell and his wife Menolly were in attendance as well, and so were D’ram and Lytol from Cove Hold. N’kar had given up his seat to the former dragonrider turnedlord warder and now stood in the doorway that lead to the records room, surveying the murmuring crowd. 

Someone poked the brownrider in the back and he turned to find Malena standing behind him. “Let me through.”

The last thing they needed was her making a scene. “There is no reason for you to be here.”

“I am a weyrwoman!” She hissed, glaring at him.

“Junior. You are a Junior Weyrwoman, and as none of the other Junior Weyrwomen are here you do not need to be here.”

“I saw her.” So that was what this was about. N’kar ran a hand through his hair, quickly dropping it so that it rested against the other side of the door - blocking Malena from entering. The queenrider huffed in frustration and then tried a different approach. “I thought you said you were going to help her, but she didn’t look good at all.”

“Things are a bit more complicated than we had originally thought...” 

“I saw that too.”

He regarded Malena over his shoulder. Yes, of course she had - if she had seen Kayta then she would have seen her friend’s dragon as well. His mind was still trying to digest that the girl he had thought was just a simple runner was actually a Weyrwoman. The Weyrwoman of the weyr that had been causing them so much trouble. “We’ll talk later.”

“I don’t want to talk to you, I want to talk to her.”

“Malena...” R’nahl was watching, and was beginning to edge his way around the room to where his wingsecond stood. If he saw Malena... N’kar shifted his body to block the queenrider from sight. “I’ll see what I can do, but unless you want to be on the midnight watch with me for the next fortnight then you need to leave now.”

“Hmf.” There was a swish of fabric, and the next time the brownrider looked behind him the corridor was empty.

R’nahl finally reached him and clasped him on the shoulder. “I told you that girl would be trouble.”

He had expected R’nahl to scold him yet again for allowing his attraction to the girl distract him. For not keeping him informed about the situation. But if the bronzerider had gone with him, would Kayta have come forward? Or would she have hidden out in the woods as long as she could? 

Before the bronzerider could say anything else though, the Weyrleaders entered the room followed closely by Kayta. She had cleaned up since N’kar had last seen her a candlemark ago; her hair was tamed into two braids that wrapped around the crown of her head, and someone had loaned her a dress to wear while her other clothing was being washed. There were still dark circles under her eyes though, and even from across the room he could see that she was still tense, like a coiled spring waiting to snap. She took a seat at F’lar’s left hand and scanned the room, only relaxing a little when she finally saw N’kar. 

F’lar spoke and the room fell silent. “The past two days have been quite a shock to us all; first we suspected the holdless were behind the raids plaguing Pern and then we suspected one of our own. While none of the holders who look to us have threatened any action against us, I am sure it was only a matter of time. We have not faced such a dire situation since before the oldtimers came forward.” Heads nodded around the table in agreement, and many related tales of how other lord holders had complained about dwindling supplies. The benden Weyrleader waited for them to fall silent again before continuing. “However, it has come to our attention that the culprits were actually a part of an unknown Weyr.” 

Voices shouted out in surprise and anger. Surprisingly, T’bor was the loudest. Given how long he had walked in F’lar’s shadow, N’kar had never thought that he would ever speak out against the Benden Weyrleader. “Why was this not mentioned before?”

“We all heard the dragons keen, man.” N’ton replied. “Unless you were buried in a wine skin, this shouldn’t be a surprise.”

T’bor flushed and drummed his fingers on the table in a irritated tattoo, his eyes skimming over Kayta where she sat at the head of the table. She glanced down where her hands were folded in her lap rather than meet his gaze. 

“Someone has come forward and given us more information about that Weyr.” F’lar continued. “One of their riders was the one raiding the holds, but only because their own supplies were low and their own holds could barely support them. That rider behind the raids was the one who died yesterday - he was attacked by his own Weyrleader on our soil for his actions. That very Weyrleader has gone on to attack some of his other men - including his Weyrwoman - and plans to execute them. Thankfully the Weyrwoman was able to escape before anything dire happened to her, and she has come to us for protection and assistance... Kayta?”

There was a murmur of surprise as the former runner stood. For a moment she seemed to waver, as if she might try to run away or faint. She glanced at N’kar again and he gave her a nod of encouragement. The queenrider took a breath and gave the riders around her a small smile. “You’ll have to forgive me - it’s been a very trying day. I’m not sure where to start.”

“At the beginning, like you did with us.” Lessa suggested. 

Kayta nodded and started to explain who she was and how she had come to be there. When she was finished, she  sat back in her chair, and tried not to show just how much everyone staring at her was really bothering her. You would think she would have gotten used to being stared at and whispered about over the years, but somehow this was different. The Islanders had been stuck with her back then - she had been their only queenrider after all - and if the Weyr wanted to survive then they needed her even if they hated her. Here she was just one of many, and her future was in the hands of these strangers.

_ You are Weyrwoman. You are their equal. _ Lysith’s voice was full of love and pride, but it did nothing to reassure her rider. 

“If this Weyr of yours has been around for over 400 turns, why do we not have any record of them?” Someone finally spoke, a woman with green rider shoulder knots who was sitting next to the Monaco Bay Weyrleader.

_ Elanth says her name is Mirrim _ , Lysith spoke after consulting with her translator, Elanth. The queen dragon was still struggling to communicate with others. Since Elanth was the only dragon capable of understanding her, he had offered  to relay her requests if she needed it. Kayta didn’t quite understand how the brown was able to communicate with Lysith when the others couldn’t, for the moment she just assumed that it was because of all the run ins with her.

Kayta was confused,  _ The last time I checked Greenriders could not be Weyrwomen. _

_ She is not the Weyrwoman, she is his Weyrmate.  _

_ Why is she here then? _

_ Elanth says N’kar says she has a better head on her shoulders than the real Weyrwoman, but he doesn’t know why she is allowed to these meetings either.   _

_ Thank you, dear. _ She glanced around the room and discovered that N’kar was looking in her direction. He gave a little nod, confirming what his dragon had said.

“Perhaps the Weyr was a backup, in case the oldtimers didn’t make it.” This was from the Southern Weyrleader, K’vin. 

“As far as I was aware such a thing was never discussed.”  Lessa said. She glanced at some of the riders she had brought forward and they nodded. 

An older bronzerider gave the tiny Weyrwoman a smile. “We were all so sure that we had gone forward that we never thought to leave anyone behind as a fail safe.” 

“There was a younger Queenrider who disappeared during one of our jumps forward” Another Weyrwoman spoke up. Kayta was surprised that the woman had anything constructive to add to the conversation; she had struck the younger woman as being dimmer than a dead glow when they were first introduced, and, sure enough, she couldn’t help but notice that the other queenrider had spent most of the meeting staring off into space. 

“One of our younger bronzes went missing as well.” The dimglow’s Weyrleader finished for her. “They were both fairly young and had just learned to fly and go between. We assumed they had miscalculated their coordinates and were lost as a result. It never occurred to us that they might have stayed behind.”

_ The easily distracted one is Bedella.  _ Lysith jumped in again with the names.  _ Her mate is R’mart. _

“But why?” This was from a second Weyrwoman.

_ Nadira _ , Lysith spoke.

_ I trust you got that from Elanth again? _

_ Yes, though the others are getting easier to understand. _

_ Good.  _ Kayta turned her attention back to the conversation. R’mart was speaking again; “They were both hold bred and I remember that they were rather unhappy about having to leave their families behind.”

The records detailing who had founded the Island Weyr had deteriorated a long time ago, so Kayta had never learned about how the Weyr was founded while N’bel was training her. If these riders R’mart was speaking of  had been the ones to discover their Weyr it would explain why every Islander was taught from birth that they must remain a secret - discovery would have thrown off the future. 

But that was the past, and she was worried about the present. What if Z’char killed N’bel and M’rocav while she was stuck here listening to these strangers debate about where the first riders had come from? She opened her mouth to interrupt, but F’lar beat her to it. “While I would have appreciated the help these men and women would have offered all those years ago, I believe what is going on now is far more important. What are we to do about this Weyr now that we know about it?”

“Each Weyr is autonomous. We have no right to do anything.”

“I thought we already settled that years ago, with T’ron and his lot.” Lessa reminded R’mart. 

“That was different situation.”

“Why? Because thread was involved and lives were at stake? This situation is just as bad if not worse. The Weyrleader is ignoring his responsibilities far more than T’ron ever did  _ and _ he has killed  his own riders and he may kill more.”

“From what Weyrwoman Kayta has said, the Weyr does not have enough supplies to support itself for much longer. If we let the Weyr be, the situation may resolve itself.” R’nahl held up a hand as if to stop any yelling. “I do not approve of the needless loss of life, but, maybe as things get more desperate, the other riders in the Weyr will rise against their Leader and turn on him him.”

“And in the meantime, two very good men and dragons will die while we sit and twiddle our thumbs.” Kayta finally spoke up, and everyone turned to look at her as if suddenly remembering her presence. “That is not an option.”

“What would you have us do then? Set dragon against dragon for a Weyr who has caused us nothing but problems, for a poor example of a Weyrwoman who can’t control her own Weyr or, shells, even her own dragon?”

“R’nahl!” F’lar called the bronzerider to order.

Kayta held up a hand to silence him. “No, he is right. I admit that I have not been the best Weyrwoman. I let myself be bossed around and led to believe that a mating flight would fix everything. I let myself be ostracized because of who I was before I impressed. I realize now that I was wrong - I shouldn’t have stayed hidden away in the records room bent over dusty scrolls and hides. I should have come forward and let everyone know that we existed as soon as Lysith could go between. I should have forced the wings to fly when Z’char wouldn’t just because thread was falling over the ocean and not land. I should have made them leave the holders alone rather than just having them whisked away to another continent.” She took a breath and looked down at her lap as she thought about what to say next. “I do not want dragon to fight against dragon, but I believe that if enough of your dragons come with me even a crazy man like Z’char will realize that any fight would be useless. And even though the bronzes attacked Lysith, I do not think they did so willingly. They were grey and very careful not to hurt her. As for Lysith’s own behaviour... Can you blame her for being so protective after I was attacked?”

“I see no marks on you. In fact, it looks like your dragon took most of the abuse of the attack despite your claims that the bronzes were careful.”

“Even a mother may accidentally scratch her child while trying to restrain it. And I was not referring to last night’s incident, but one that happened many weeks ago... Your wingsecond saw the aftermath of that.”

“You looked fine at the gather when I saw you.”

“She wasn’t.” N’kar finally spoke up. His face was stony, and he had gripped his belt so tightly that his knuckles were white. “She had bruises on her arms and she could barely stand up straight. I tried to encourage her to come back to the Weyr with me, but she wouldn’t.”

There was a murmur of surprise at that. 

“And you didn’t mention this why?” F’lar’s eyes flashed between N’kar and Kayta. 

Kayta shrugged. “It did not seem important when compared to the life Z’char took.” 

“My dear...” Lessa started. 

“It’s nothing.” The bruises and dizziness had long since faded; there was no point in worrying over them now. “As I was saying before I was interrupted, I hope that, with the support of the rest of the Weyrs of Pern, I will be able to return to my Island and correct my mistakes and the mistakes of the ones that have come before me.”

“If we were to restore you to the Weyr, what would happen then?” R’mart asked, finally breaking the silence.

“It has been suggested that the Weyr supplement its current supplies with fruits and some of the wild herdbeasts from Southern. Other necessities can be supplied by the rest of the Weyrs until the holds are able to recover from the abuse and resume proper tithing. Also, some of the Island dragonriders will dispersed among your Weyrs, and, in exchange, volunteers from your Weyrs be sent to the Island to replace them. This should help us adapt and become a productive part of the rest of Pern.” Kayta explained, trying not to let on how much she did not agree with either idea. Yes they needed supplies, but they didn’t need charity - they had plenty of marks and jewels to pay the other Weyrs back. As for sending her riders away? She knew they needed discipline, but they would feel isolated and possibly be snubbed at the other Weyrs for where they came from that would only lead to resentment and more issues in the long run. “Benden Weyr has generously offered to send one of their Junior Weyrwomen to the Island with me to help organize the records and train me on how to use a flame thrower so I can participate in the Queens Wing when thread falls.” It would be nice to have another queenrider around to talk to... and to finally be able to fight thread instead of just sitting around waiting for the wings to return!

“What about this Z’char? Do we exile him like we did with T’ron and T’kul?”

“No,” D’ram interrupted. “Exiling dragonriders only led to more problems. And where would we exile him anyways? Another Island where he could cause more havoc?”

“What if we allowed him to stay as Weyrleader for now - but under heavy supervision of course - and then let Lysith’s next Mating Flight decide who will take over from there.” Lessa suggested.

“We’ve tried that, his bronze keeps winning.” Katya reminded her. 

“But by giving you some of our spare dragons, Lysith will have a larger selection of bronzes for when she does fly. You, yourself, mentioned that our dragons are considerably larger than yours...”

Oh. Oh! The Island Weyrwoman could not believe she could have been so obtuse to miss that. Suddenly, she was aware of the wingleaders in the room eyeing her with a brand new appreciation. She suppressed a shudder at the idea of having a stranger share her bed, then gave Lessa her best smile as if nothing was wrong. “That certainly changes things.”

“I thought it might.” Lessa returned her smile and there were a few chuckles from some of the other younger Weyrwomen. 

F’lar raised his hand to get everyone’s attention: “All in favor of supporting our new friend?”

There were a chorus of ‘Aye’s around the room, and for the first time in ages Kayta allowed herself to relax. Things were going to be okay. It was still going to be a long and tough journey, but things were finally beginning to look up for once. 


End file.
